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FRANCIS SCHLATTER 





THE HEALER. 



PUBLISHED BY 

SCHLATTER PUBLISHING CO., 
DENVER, COLO. 



BIOGRAPHY 



OF 



FRANCIS SCHLATTER, 

THE HEALER, 



/\ (\ \ WITH HIS 

LIFE, WORKS AND WANDERINGS. 






PUBLISHED BY 

SCHLATTER PUBLISHING CO., 

DENVER, COLO. 

1896. 



C^e^^U '^ 






F7 



CLQ^n-V 3 



Copyrighted, 1896, by 
HARRY B. MAGILL. 

All rights reserved. 

Copyrights applied for throughout Europe, 
North and South America. 



THE MERCHANTS PUB. CO., PRINTERS. 
PENVER, COLORADO, 

1896. 



PREFACE. 



In presenting this biography to the public of 
the life, works and wanderings of Francis 
Schlatter, "The Healer'' (or, as the newspapers 
and journals styled him, "The New Mexican 
Messiah, or The Christ Man"), together with a 
brief sketch of his early life prior to the time 
when he entered upon his mission to heal the 
sick, to open the eyes of the blind and to com- 
fort those who were sorely afflicted, I wish to 
call the attention of my readers to the earnest- 
ness and simplicity of manner in which he per- 
formed his work while in Denver, and other 
cities as well. The many trials with which 
Francis had to contend with, not only in the 
eyes of man, but with himself, shows how a 
person who is inclined to do good and what is 
right can master the physical and liye in the 
inner world. This is an object lesson to hu- 
manity, which, if practiced and liyed up to, 
there would be less sickness and misery in the 



4 Francis Schlatter 

world to-daj, and all would be sunshine and 
gladness. In compiling this work the author 
is greatly indebted to Mr. Fox for all the main 
facts, illustrations, etc., and for local matter I 
have had to velj largely upon the ^'Kocky 
Mountain News.^^ 

The most noted pulpit orator west of the 
Mississippi river deliyered a sermon which 
was full of sympathy and loving kindness in 
behalf of the work in which the Healer was en- 
gaged, and said: "He has helped me morally .'' 
The depth of meaning contained within that 
sentence can never be expressed in words, nor 
ever be manifested upon the surface, but only 
to be enjoyed in the kingdom of heaven within. 
To this end this work is earnestly dedicated, 
with the Faith that it will be the means of a 
blessing to humanity. 

THE AUTHOR. 



The Healer. 



INTRODUCTORY NOTE. 



About a year ago the public was startled 
by the aiDpearance of a man who created no 
little excitement, which in time was followed 
by intense interest and belief. This peculiar 
man (in ijlainness of attire only) was the sub- 
ject of discussion from the Atlantic ocean to 
the Pacific, and from the great lakes to the 
Gulf of Mexico. People from all parts of the 
country flocked to see this woilderful Healer, 
and to return home a living testimony as to 
his powers and methods of healing. 

It is one of the many facts that presents the 
social environments of the times and, to a great 
extent, illuminates the aspirations and the im- 
pulses contained within the human breast. 

It is also a fact which reproves the self-civil- 
ity of institutional religion of the day, the forti- 
fied creeds of science. 

This, of course, can only be seen by those of 
broad views, and not by those of narrow minds. 

The ignorant will wonder and marvel; the 
shallow will cavil, wrangle, or mock and grin; 



6 Francis Sohlatteb 

and the wise only will carry the facts deep 
down into their hearts and souls, and meditate 
on their wide and pathetic import, as there is 
a majestic and lofty warmth in this Denver 
scene, and the pathos attached to the event 
will long be remembered with the scenes that 
disclose or reveal the tenderness of the human 
heart in its original and sincere artlessness; 
such a high and dramatic feeling as has been 
made known to gentle souls in the short but 
lightened and shining command, ^^Suffer little 
children to come unto me/' 

Each day witnessed an anxious and surging 
crowd, numbering from 2,000 to 5,000 people, 
of all creeds and colors, who were bent on see- 
ing this artless, ardent and zealous man, who, 
by giving up himself entirely to the interests 
of the Holy Spirit, has attained an extraordin- 
ary power to heal the sick, to restore the eye- 
sight of the blind, make the deaf to hear, giv- 
ing speech to the dumb, pliableness to the 
palsied. 

The people did not come because they be- 
lieved him to be Christ, but because, agreeable 
to reason, the remembrance of Christ has left 
a foundation for belief in such works. 



The Healer. 7 

The purity of his manners, the freeness from 
guile, the outward and complete surrender 
to the Father, suggest a ready deference, a 
deep respect and a profound, merciful love. 

It is utterly impossible for any but a mind 
exasperated by opinion or superstition, or viti- 
ated by contempt of just restraint, to doubt or 
to interrogate the purity and unselfishness of 
his spirit. To doubt the condition of his men- 
tal faculties is another question. 

But it is momentous to emphasize that, bolt- 
ing the claim that he is the Saviour reincar- 
nated, his being present forces upon me — and 
I may say upon all who saw him — -the idea or 
influence of an extremely but completely sound 
mind. As, however, his personality is deserv- 
ing of the most cautious notice, and worthy of 
all scientific observation, I should say that he 
has one more manner of what, strictly ob- 
served, we should have to mark out or show as 
an illusion or error in our present assured be- 
liefs of the psycho-mental offices. 

In describing the institution or schooling he 
went through for this ecclesiastical function 
of healing, he invariably said, I ^^had to'' do 
this and I "had to'' do that. Prudent informa- 
tion, however, discloses that this "had to" w^as 



8 Francis Schlatter 

not, accurately speaking, an order or command 
from objective "voices/' such as guided Joan 
of Arc, but simply an influence or impression 
of the will of the Father, which is subjective. 

Of course, this will be immediately acknov/1- 
edged as only a weakly, enlarged effect of a 
religious appearance, common to those v/ho 
endeavor or essay to yield or deliver up the 
personal will to any eager extent to the direc- 
tion of the Father, as eminent from those who 
attempt to control their behavior by reason of 
principle altogether. 

Not all cases handled were restored to 
health, or even noticeably eased. Some were 
cured immediatelj^, and some were alleviated 
almost immediately. 

The cure was frequently by degrees, "as the 
Faith came.'' When helped or cured, suffer- 
ers, to express their gratitude, thanked him (as 
he never accepted money). The Healer replied: 
"Don't thank me; thank the heavenly Father. 
Put your faith in Him, not in me. I have no 
power but what He gives me through my 
Faith. He will give you the same." 

There was no trick to gain applause, no in- 
sincerity of secret, no exertion for public expos- 
ure in the Healer's behavior. 



The Healer. 9 

A passagevN'av was built, so that only one 
person at a time could approach the Healer. 
Francis stood at the end of the passage-way 
(in front of the residence), in full view of the 
people, took each one that passed through, 
and, T\ithout asking any questions, took the 
indiyiduaPs hands in his own hands (which 
were crossed) for a long or a short time, inyari- 
ably closing his eyes or raising them upward, 
and in a low tone uttered a brief, silent petition 
for Diyine grace. 

He stood there hatless and coatless, on an 
average of six hours eyery day, treating the 
afflicted. Day after day found many of the 
same people standing in line for hours e'er 
they reached the Healer. 

Before the break of day there was a large 
crowd in front of Mr. Fox's residence in North 
Denver, where Schlatter was a guest during 
his mission in this city. While with Mr. 
Fox, the Healer cured the gentleman of deaf- 
ness entirely. 

Before sending the crowd away each day, 
the Healer went among the vehicles and 
treated the sick and afflicted who were un- 
able to stand for hours in line and await their 
turn. 



10 Francis Schlatter 

The manner of the Healer was quiet, peace- 
ful and fall of fellow-feeling, and affected no 
singularity whatever beyond that his hair was 
very long and fell in long curls upon his 
shoulders. 

This appearance gives to his face, in repose 
or rest, an impressive similarity to the pic- 
tures of the Christ of eighteen hundred years 
ago. In all probability this affected the con- 
ception of those who had the privilege of 
visiting him. The numbers that stood around 
all day — never less than between 1,200 to 
1,500 at one time — were earnest, even those 
who were curious were eagerly curious and as 
respectful as at a church congregation. Such 
was a devout, beautiful and lasting exhibi- 
tion to which the noble splendors of the vast 
Rocky Mountain region, apparent in the near 
distance, formed a suitable background. 

There was grandeur in the whole result, 
overflowing with holy and sacred feeling. The 
scene formed lasting mental images and pic- 
tures with many. It moved and roused the 
fountains in the souls of all liberal and open- 
hearted beings and ingenuous creatures as 
well. Many wept tears of joy, some of sad- 
ness, but the latter were, indeed, few. 



The Healer. 11 

Fathers and mothers came with lame child- 
ren in their arms, some with languishing 
babes upon the breast; the feeling crowd 
parted from right to left to allow a place in 
line. To the observant eye the flush of doubt 
was upon many, and they came toward the 
Healer, the throat growing larger with chok- 
ing excitement of the mind, the tears subdued 
in solicitous eyes — ah, if this might be the 
Savior of the manger w^ho said: ^^Suffer lit- 
tle children to come unto me." 

Schlatter was but a poor, plain, unselfish 
brother, w^ho obtained a little and unfinished 
portion of the God-power by delivering him- 
self entirely to the Father's will. According 
to the church of to-day, the forty-day fast of 
the Savior in the wilderness is still among 
the miracles. Such as it is, Schlatter has 
undergone in the plainest and most modest 
way, as with effect and under more trials 
than those w^hich surrounded the Savior. 

There was lots of room for doubt regarding 
the fast on both sides, if the external power of 
existing were now a liberal inquiry, which it 
is not. 

What is worthy of particular notice in 
Schlatter's fast was that he remained at his 



12 Francis Schlatter 

mission post of healing during the entire fast. 
At first he would take a walk or ride from 
village to village along the Rio Grande in 
New Mexico and while in this state. In the 
town of Albuquerque he stopped at the house 
of Mr. J. A. Summers, who was then deputy 
clerk of the Probate Court, a family of good 
understanding and high in rank of esteem. 

The last day of the fast was a scene not 
expressive, and the last moments were filled 
with merciful concern to those who were al- 
lowed to continue with him. Danger was per- 
ceived in his eating a solid meal. 

"Have no fear/' he said, "have Faith. The 
Father has sustained me through forty days 
and this is his will.'' 

Schlatter sat down at the table alone, which 
was beautifully decorated with flowers 
brought by his friends and spread on the spot- 
less, white table cloth. His meal was a solid 
one. It was served at 5 o'clock in the after- 
noon. Schlatter partook very heartily of 
fried chicken, beefsteak and eggs, together 
with a bottle of wine. Before withdrawing 
for the evening he was served with bread and 
milk and suffered no inconvenience. 



Tpie Healer. 13 

If the abstinence from food was real — the 
genuineness of which is not questioned — ^the 
digestion of that supper was the nearest ap- 
T)roach to an act beyond the understood laws 
of nature of anything I have ever been ac- 
quainted with. It points out clearly that what 
we term a purely external suggestion may 
have at times a larger, if not unmeasurable 
kindred with the spiritual. 

The Healer never cared for notoriety, it 
was forced upon him; never doing anything 
in an exciting manner, but pure and meek in 
all things; never promulgating from the roofs 
of houses, but vrhen questioned, the Healer, 
with a quiet and firm voice, says: "I am.'^ 



14 Francis Schlatter 



CHAPTER I. 



Francis Schlatter, the Divine Healer, was 
born in Alsace, France (now a province of 
Germany), in the canton of Schlestadt, at 
Ebersheim, April 29, 1856. His parents were 
poor people who tilled the soil, spun and wove 
coarse fabrics. His parents are dead, al- 
though he has one brother, a nephew and two 
sisters living in Alsace. Francis never at- 
tended school after his fourteenth year. While 
in his teens he learned the trade of shoe-mak- 
ing. He never married; arrived in America 
in 1891 and settled at Jamestown, Long Is- 
land, a small fishing place, the chief occupa- 
tion of whose inhabitants is to ensnare the fes- 
tive scallop. Here his townsmen always 
spoke of his as ^Trank,'' a rather good fel- 
low, who made very good shoes, and inciden- 
tally, quite a lot of money at his trade of shoe- 
maker. The Healer remained in this fishing 
hamlet on the Peconic bay about the space of 
three years. Being of a decided Franco-Ger- 
man accent, it was naturally very hard for 



The Healer. 15 

him at first to get along, but gradually with 
his broken English he managed to get a start. 
He was then a tall, robust fellow, and im- 
pressed eveij one with his sobriety and good 
nature. "Aunt Sally Cor win'' rented the up- 
per half of her two-story frame house on the 
main road, leading from the station to the 
bay, and it was in this humble spot that the 
Healer put out his sign and kept house for 
himself. It was at this point that he became 
acquainted with a family by the name of 
Ryan, through their elder son, William, who 
was an engineer on a fishing steamer which 
ran for the menhaden fisheries from Green- 
port. As Mr. Ryan was chief fireman on the 
Annie Wilcox and afterwards the Cora P. 
White (which belonged to the Church Broth- 
ers), he was in position to give employment to 
Francis as fireman on the fishing steamer, 
which from all reports Schlatter seemed to 
enjoy for two seasons, but as time went on he 
finally tired of the fireman's life and it was 
then that he started at his trade of shoe- 
making, which, he said, was learned in a town 
near his native yillage. A certain Dr. Law- 
ton, of New York, every few days brought cus- 
tom made shoes for Francis to sew in "Aunt 

2 



16 Francis Schlatter 

Sally's'' upper parlors, for which he was us- 
ually paid |2.50 per pair, and on the average 
the earnings amounted to |15 a week. His 
expenses were very small, the money accu- 
mulated very rapidly, but after a time living 
alone and bachelor housekeeping palled on 
the Healer, he finally thought he would like 
to board with the Ryans. In the Eyan fam- 
ily vv^ere four young ladies. Though not par- 
ticularly interested in any of them, he man- 
aged to entertain them all by playing at the 
game of croquet, of which he was passion- 
ately fond. 

A short time thereafter he started for Den- 
ver, Colorado, and stayed till the following 
July, when he "had to'' go forth on his mis- 
sion of self-denial and healing the sick; be- 
gan to consider the Christ life first in Denver, 
but realized later that the Father had guided 
him especially for the preceding five years, 
but at that time not aware of His guidance. 
The Healer was born and raised a Catholic 
and is a Catholic still. When a baby of one 
year of age he was blind and deaf and was 
cured by the Faith of his mother, who in an- 
sv/er to her prayers for his cure, consecrated 
the child to God, 



The Healer. 17 



CHAPTER II. 



It was in the month of July, 1893, that 
Schlatter disappeared, by way of Eighteenth 
avenue, in Denver, for parts unknown. The 
rain fell in torrents, and with about |3 in 
money, nothing certain in his future, but with 
a steadfast belief in his own destiny and in the 
promise conveyed to him by occult and unseen 
forces, that he would be cared for, he tramped 
in this condition for many days. 

The elect waited to hear from him as the 
performer of some great miracles or wonders 
of the mysterious science. The scoffers have 
expected to hear of his incarceration in some 
asylum, or the recovery of his body somewhere 
upon the great plains, where he may have wan- 
dered in a fit of mental incapacity. None who 
knew him were surprised when the manner of 
his reappearance among the living was made 
known by a reporter. To those who had la- 
bored and studied with him in Denver, it 
seemed like the fulfillment of the promises of 
the still small voice that he had often ^aid had 



18 Francis Schlatter 

separated him from ordinary mortals and told 
him to be patient; that the day would come 
for him to heal and reveal. The friends he had 
made outside of his religious societies were re- 
lieved to know that he yet lived and was ap- 
parently not suffering for the material things 
of life. 

On one occasion the Healer, prior to this de- 
parture from Denver, disappeared and walked 
to Cheyenne, Wyoming, and back. He had not 
told any of his friends in this city of the pro- 
posed journey, and there was quite a time over 
it. When they were looking for him he walked 
in, and stated that he had walked up to Chey- 
enne and back. It is more than likely that he 
was merely toughening his feet for the longer 
journey he anticipated, and on which he 
started that rainy day over three years ago. 

Francis told a thrilling story of his wander- 
ings, fasts, temptations and visions while be- 
ing tried by heavenly fire in the wilderness of 
the great Southwest. He said his power in- 
creased each day, and his Father showed him 
by revelation, miracles which will resound 
throughout the length and breadth of every 
land, and among all tongues. In the barren 
wastes of the Mojave and Yuma deserts he 



The Healer. 19 

wrestled with Eblis, the evil one, and over- 
threw his dominion, through the mercy of God. 
It was a triumph which, he claimed, would 
bring a great peace to the sons of men. 

Can it be that the strange Healer is the fore- 
runner of the millennium, during which time 
Satan is to be chained and uniyersal i)eace 
reign, preparatory to the end of this earthly 
kingdom and rule? These signs of the times, 
just as deep now^ as at any other time, if the 
teachings of Holy Writ are followed, will be 
left to those w^ho read the strange sayings of 
the man. 

While Francis worked at his trade in this 
city he had many spiritual communications, 
yet vague, although positive enough to induce 
him to swing Indian clubs and dumbbells for 
two hours every day, after which the same 
power impelled him to walk five to ten miles, 
when the hardships of training led him to an 
early rest. The Healer said: "I did not know 
why I did this thing, but I know now. I was 
not very strong, and Father was preparing me 
for what was to come. But I had the power 
to heal before I left Denver. One day Father 
told me to sell out my business and not to take 
anything with me, but to go, and I started.'^ 



20 Francis SoHLATtEit 

Francis never begged during the two years of 
his wanderings, and, after getting fully upon 
his way, avoided the large cities and towns, be- 
cause the healing powder had not manifested it- 
self in full confidence. He felt that he was not 
prepared by the Father. His route was east- 
ward from Denver, through the center of Kan- 
sas, touching at Clay Center, Topeka, Law- 
rence and Kansas City. During this portion of 
his Journey, and all of the time afterward, he 
asked for no food. It was given him volunta- 
rily. He remained in Kansas City but a few 
hours. From that point he took a southerly di- 
rection, passing through Paola, Fort Scott, and 
entered the Indian Territory almost south of 
the last named city. Nothing eventful dis- 
turbed the Healer until Tahlequah was 
reached. Here Francis was taken very ill, by 
reason of the exposure, irregularity of meals, 
and the failure of power to move one leg. At 
this point he was prostrated for two days, but 
healed several of the Indians, who treated him 
with respect and kindness. ^^The night of the 
second day,'^ said Schlatter, "I saw a vision, in 
which I was told to start in the morning.^' He 
arose refreshed and with no symptoms of de- 
bility, bade his Indian friends farewell and 



The Healer. 21 

pursued his southern course. "Something 
made me go in that direction/' he explained, 
and it seemed that this inclination was so pro- 
nounced that he soon found himself walking 
on the mountains into Hot Springs, Arkansas, 
in his bare head and bare feet, begrimed with 
travel stains, and he presented the appearance 
of a demented person. 

"I suppose I looked tough," said Francis, 
"without shoes and hat. It was at this point 
my troubles commenced. I had trouble after 
trouble. The sheriff arrested me because, he 
said, I was insane. I was in prison there for 
five months and a half and was never brought 
before any judge.'' The truth was that the 
friendless wanderer vvas tried by a kangaroo 
court and given fifty lashes because he had no 
money to pay the fine of that mock institution. 
His good nature won for him the confidence 
usually reposed in the privileged prisoners 
called "trusties." Here Francis was made to 
saw wood, wash dishes and clean the deputy 
sheriff's house from garret to cellar. "O, I 
worked hard. Father told me to work hard, 
and I did. But I knew I would get out before 
long, for Father told me." The travesty upon 
the justice of Arkansas was exposed, probably 



22 Francis Sghlai:teb 

unwittingly, Iby the prisoner. Francis ¥/as im- 
mured for five months and a half without a 
hearing of any sort. His gullible nature, if 
one would have it so, w^as played upon to ex- 
cess by those officers of the law, who beheld in 
this man an unlearned, friendless and forsaken 
tramp; but after he was removed from the 
confining j)enalties of the prison to their own 
homes, he, the prisoner of the state and a vag- 
abond of creation, was used as a private slave. 
He became the scullion of the deputy sheriff, 
who, it is presumed, saved his family a good 
deal of housework and an extra outlay of 
servant hire. The docile j)risoner was a neat, 
industrious worked, for he said so himself and 
his Denver acquaintances certainly give him 
that much credit, after the evidences of so 
much industry here. 

So the deputy sheriff virtually resurrected 
slavery and trifled with the law^, but the erring 
servant of public opinion could not conceal his 
debt five months longer, ^^I overheard him say 
to the sheriff one day, ^Hadn't we better let him 
go?' Francis laughed then, for Father had 
told me already that I would soon be free. The 
night before I found out I was to go, and that 
is the funniest part of it all, I had a dream, and 



The Healer. 23 

in the dream I saw a canary bird flying loosely 
in a room, and from that room it flew through 
an open door to another, and from there 
through another door into still another room. 
Some persons were trying to catch the bird, 
but it got through an open window and es- 
caped. I kneY\^ Father had sent me the dream 
to tell me that I was the canary bird, and that 
I would soon be free; so when I heard the 
deputy sheriff speaking to the sheriff about let- 
ting me go, I told them of the dream, saying 
that the Father w^ould free me. no matter what 
they might do to prevent it. Just after this the 
sheriff asked me if I did not want to go into 
some little business in Hot Springs.'^ The 
Healer said that he had already given up one 
business and given everything away v/ith it. 
"^Why should I desire to go into business 
again?' I asked. He offered to set me up in 
something, but I said no. Father told me what 
to say. One day I was taken over to the dep- 
utj^ sheriff^s house. They had begun to watch 
me now. Well, we were in the same room, 
the deputy and I, w^hen his wife called him: 
^John! John!' she said; ^come in here and 
watch Jean for a few moments.' He forgot me, 
and suddenly Father said: ^Now start!' And I 



S4 Francis Sohlatteb 

went out of the door and walked very fast. 1 
did not run/' laughed Francis, "but I did walk 
very fast, for I was glad to be free. But I was 
not entirely free yet, so I kept on up the mount- 
ain side, walking at the same gait until I 
reached the top, where I laid dowm for only a 
few moments. Then I started down the other 
side, halting half way towards the foot in a 
little gully. I got behind the trunk of a fallen 
tree and slept until 11 o'clock the following 
day. That day I wandered, and all of that 
night, getting food at negro cabins, and then 
going back into the hills. I treated some of 
these people, because of their kindness to me. 
The second day I was twenty miles from Hot 
Springs, near the Sulphur Springs. Then I 
suddenly commenced going north. I was sur- 
prised, because Father had always told me to 
go south. I asked Him why He made me go 
in that direction, when before it had always 
been the other way, but He told me to go on; it 
was not for me to quarrel with the Father, so 
I obeyed. And then Satan, how he came to 
me now, when I was troubled because Father 
kept me in ignorance of His purposes. Satan 
spoke to me about going back and taking the 
sheriff's offer, but I fought him off. 



The Healer, 25 

^^On the third day I found mj^self in a north 
and south road, crossed it and found myself in 
an open lot. Then the other part of the dream 
was perfectly clear. This was the third room, 
and I laughed aloud, for now I felt that I was 
going to be free soon. I crossed the lot and 
came upon another lot going southwest. Now 
I knew I was free, so I started off yery fast 
and made thirty-five miles a day for several 
days.'' 



26 Francis Schlatteb 



CHAPTER III. 



The story of his dream led to the inquiry 
as to whether he had other divine revelations 
through this medium, giving him assurance 
of future work for him, Francis saw the drift 
of the question before it w^as completed, and 
speaking rapidly, he said: ^^While I was at 
Hot Springs I had visions during many nights, 
In one night I beheld thirty-five. They were 
like a panorama, following one after another. 
They showed me clearly events which have 
already been fulfilled and others yet to come. 
The work is to be greater. More surprises — 
greater than those v/hich are known — will 
come. It may not be for some time and yet it 
may be only a short time. There are two v^ays 
of looking at the time, but I say time will 
tell. Father uses the simplest way for His 
work and that is the reason the world will not 
believe.'^ 

Returning to the subject of the visions of 
his future work, he spoke of their gorgeous 
nature, but continued: "They are only meant 



The Healer. 27 

for my eyes, Father does not intend to have 
them made known. The fulfillment will be 
wonderful to mankind. Time will tell the 
story, and they who do not have Faith will 
be the wori^e for it." 

Continuing the thread of his wanderings, 
the Healer went southwest through Arkan- 
sas, across the southeast corner of the Indian 
Territory into Texas, bringing up at Paris, 
Texas, from which point he departed from the 
Texas and Pacific raimay line, healing people 
when they would listen to him, but in very few 
instances did he find Faith. 

At Throckmorton, Texas, the Healer was 
again arrested on a charge of vagrancy, 
brought before a court and sentenced to three 
days' imprisonment. After serving the judg- 
ment he was instructed to leave the town 
within three days, in lieu of which he was 
threatened with a long term in jail. It was un- 
necessary to urge him, for he started at once 
over what is known as the Llano Estacado 
or Staked Plains, the northern desert of Texas, 
arriving at El Paso after enduring great suf- 
fering and privation. 

He gained El Paso about the first of July, 
1894. His route then lay over the sterile, 



28 Francis Schlatter 

arid Yuma desert^ through the extreme south- 
ern section of New Mexico, Arizona and 
southern California. In speaking of the jour- 
ney, he said that he found the heat intense, 
but did not suffer for many days. By keeping 
along the line of the Southern Pacific railroad 
from El Paso, he was enabled to follow a chain 
of habitations, where sometimes he was in- 
vited to share food, and often went without. 
Though often fainting from weakness, the 
Father supported him. After passing the 
southeastern boundary of California, he fell 
in with a fellow-traveler who was a tramp, 
although Francis did not use this term. He 
said he was a poor fellow like himself, without 
food or shelter, and who had not the advan- 
tage of a trade at which he might work at any 
time. This nondescript Arab of the wilder- 
ness shared with Francis the scanty store, but 
^^misery acquaints a man with strange bed- 
fellows.^^ ^^He got what I got; we shared 
alike.^^ 

Just outside of Colton, California, these 
tw^o princes of the wastes put aside their royal 
rags for the night and prepared to woo the 
slumber so dearly snatched from the cheer- 
less night. 



The Healer. 29 

"I was almost dead. I rolled my trousers 
into a bundle and placed them under my head 
for a pillow and soon sank into a sound slum- 
ber. During the night the fire at our feet 
went down, so I got up to gather more wood, 
and while bending over the coals, trying to 
get it to burn, my companion made off with 
my clothes. Then I was in a fix. But he did 
not get anything for I had nothing. The next 
day I found clothes near the trail.'^ 

On September 25, 1894, Francis arrived at 
Puente, south of Los Angeles and near Pasa- 
dena, where took place his first series of ex- 
tensive and pronounced healings. Three 
months and three days were spent in the lit- 
tle San Jacinto valley, passing from town to 
town, healing many Mexicans and Indians, all 
of whom were exceedingly grateful. This was 
the only period during his entire wanderings 
that the Father commanded him to receive 
money from those who offered to give it for 
his work. It came in by dribs of ten, fifteen 
and twenty cents. 

^^I did not know vfhat the Father wanted 
me to take it for, but knew that I should soon 
discover the reason. The Mexicans and In- 
dians gave me enough to make about |20. 



30 Francis Schlatter 

Then Father told me to go to San Diego and 
take the boat for San Francisco. On my way 
to San Diego I fell in with another fellow Y\'ho 
was without anything and sick of the fever. 
I healed him and shared what I had y/ith him. 
We went to San Diego together and took a 
room. Before getting into bed I began to 
think of putting my trousers under the mat- 
tress. I had given my companion |10 to start 
into some business in San Diego, finding I 
could go up by boat for the rest. Father told 
me to hang my trousers on a hook. It v/as not 
for me to question^ so I obeyed. When I 
awoke in the morning I found the money and 
the man had disappeared, so I had to go out 
into the country again and raise more. All 
this time Satan v/as telling me what an easy 
time I could have if I only v/ent back to work, 
but I would not listen. 

^^Well, I took the boat for San Francisco 
one month afterwards. I only stayed there 
six hours. Father told me to leave. I Vv ent 
to San Jose, then over the mountains to 
Merced, and from here over the mountains to 
Mojave, was the only ride I had during the 
journey. I was invited to get on a ^helper' 
engine. Father told me to ride if I w^as asked, 



The Healer. 31 

so I got on. I bought a bag of flour — forty 
pounds — at Mojave, and, carrying my water 
vvith me, started into the Mojave desert in 
February, 1895. At the Needles my flour had 
given out. I used to make a paste with the 
water. At the Needles I got a bag of v/heat 
and ate that with water. Now my real suf- 
fering commenced, and Satan was busier than 
ever before. No man can ever know v/hat I 
suffered. It was every day, every hour, all 
the time, and without any rest. Father some- 
times took me away from myself.'' 

In answer to whether they were tortures of 
the flesh or of the mind, he rej)lied: ^^They 
were bodily pains that racked me. I did not 
suffer mentally, because the worse the i)ains, 
the happier I grew; but sometimes the suffer- 
ing was terrible with darkness, and I fought 
Satan all the time. Nobody has ever suffered 
like that. Satan would say: ^Throw down 
those things you carry and go back,^ but I 
would answer: ^No; you cannot make me do 
as you want as long as Father does not wish 
it. You cannot lead me astray because 
Father is with me.' But the vision,^' he con- 
tinued, with one of the most joj^ful, rapt ex- 
pressions a man could wear — a smile that al- 



32 Francis Schlatter 

most transfigured him — "Oh, the beautiful, 
magnificent yisions. One night — it was full 
of moonlight and bright as daytime — I saw 
the grandest vision ever seen by mortal man. 
Sometimes all of the prophets w^ould appear 
before me. Sometimes I have seen my mother. 
I remember very distinctl}^ She would com- 
fort me, but often reprove me. Then Father 
told me I was ready to begin healing in the 
cities. Often I had seen many other visions. 
Satan had fled and tempted me no more. 

"My feet v/ere on the ground, only the up- 
pers of my shoes, so I walked into Flagstaff, 
Arizona. I herded sheep there and saw other 
visions.'^ 

Francis said he procured strips of rubber 
and bound them to the soles of his feet to 
keep them from being cut on jagged stones. 
In his passage across the desert he went for 
many days without food or water and con- 
tracted a salt famine. When he was given a 
bag of salt he was accustomed to dissolve a 
quantity of it in his v/ater supply and drink it. 
He thought it had a stimulating effect. Those 
who befriended him in the slightest way he 
declares v/ere blessed. 



The Healer. 33 

"Father blessed them in some way/' said 
Francis. "If any one was sick in the family 
they were made well, though they did not 
know the cause. I have had the power all 
along, but people would not believe. ^Accord- 
ing to your Faith, so be it with you.^ Father 
takes the simplest ways for his methods, and 
that is the reason they v/ill not believe. 
Father was trying me when I was suffering. 
Father tried Job.'^ 

He said the last Bible he had was given to 
a colored prisoner at Hot Springs; he had 
carried none in the desert and had none nov/. 
When the possibility of disciples was sug- 
gested, he shook his head and said: "I do not 
wish to talk on that. The work v/ill be per- 
formed alone for a long time. Greater things 
are yet to come/^ 



34 Francis Schlatter 



CHAPTER IT. 



At Flagstaff, Francis herded sheep for a 
short time, when the Father ordered him to 
move on, and he continued his footsteps to- 
ward New Mexico. At this time he had a 
small tent and blankets and was to some ex- 
tent more comfortable than usual. He arrived 
at Las Lunas about July 6, 1895. It was at 
this point that he first attracted public atten- 
tion. His cures related at this point reached 
Albuquerque, New Mexico, and it was while 
here that Mr. Fox heard of him and imme- 
diately started to locate him, impressed by 
something, as he says, which he could not 
define, that he ^^must go.'^ While he left Al- 
buquerque for Las Lunas, Francis left Las 
Lunas for Albuquerque, Mr. Fox meeting him 
at "Old Town'^ Albuquerque. 

His descriptions of the scenes at Albu- 
querque are: In a small room and a hallway 
of an adobe house in "Old Town,^' the people 



The Healer. 35 

were packed to suffocation from the time the 
first rays of the rising sun peeped over the 
brow of the majestic Sandras until darkness 
had settled down upon the winding and nar- 
row streets of this ancient village. Francis 
spent his time with unfailing vigor, though 
sitting in a room that was hot and stuffy, in 
an atmosphere heavy and stifling, he min- 
istered to the wants of all those who came to 
his side. This old fashioned Mexican home 
was thronged with men and women and 
children, patiently waiting for those before 
them to make room for them at the side of 
the Healer. Men upon whom the weight of 
years was resting heavily, men in the prime 
of life and mere boys were there. Old women 
whose black locks v/ere sprinkled with gray, 
whose eyes were dim and furrowed, and whose 
steps were tottering were there. Matrons, 
bearing in their arms infants, w^hose eyes have 
seen the light but a few months and whose 
tiny faces indicated a struggle for life against 
the odds of a sweltering summer, were there 
by hundreds, hoping that the touch of this 
strange man might bring back the roses to 
their own cheeks and the light again into 
baby's eyes. Young girls were there, many 



36 Francis Schlatter 

of them out of curiosity, yet all believing in 
the man who to them had been proclaimed a 
Messiah. The gala day attire of the women 
who had done honor to the man by donning 
the bright colors so loved by the Spaniards, 
lent dashes of color to the otherwise sombre 
scene. Without the house was a long line 
of wagons and saddle horses, the occupants 
and riders of which were waiting their turn 
to see Francis. 

Into the placita in the rear, and out upon 
the wide porch in front, this great crowd over- 
flowed, and over all was the hush that bespoke 
the awe of the people there. Humbug or not, 
these people respected the man of whose kindly 
deeds they had heard so much. They knew he 
had never done harm; they believed he had 
done good. Sprinkled freely throughout the 
crowd were many of the best-known and most 
respected citizens of New Town. Many of them 
were brought there out of curiosity, it is true, 
but after they had mingled with the crowd 
and had heard of the sublime Faith of the peo- 
ple who had followed him, and the kindly acts 
he had performed, they had no harsh words 
for him. Many there were, too, w^ho believed in 
him ; many to whom the man would have done 



The Healer. 37 

much-sought favor if he had gone with them, 
before he left the city, to the bedside of friends 
and relatives who were sick and suffering. 
Within the house the Healer sat in a small 
apartment before an open window, which 
looked out upon the green placita. His well- 
shaped head, with the flowing locks, stood out 
in bold relief in the square of light. Upon 
either side of the chair upon w^hich he sat was 
another, and these tv/o were occupied by the 
patients. He turned first to one side and then 
to the other, when the Healer touched the 
hands of the occupants of these seats, and as 
his grasp was loosened the patient gave way to 
another. Over him stood some kindly senora, 
stirring the air into motion with a large fan. 
Over and over again the scene was enacted 
throughout all the hours of the day, and at 
nightfall there were still hundreds before the 
door. Stories of cures filled the air. It was 
reported by gentlemen whose honesty of pur- 
pose cannot be doubted, that a woman of Old 
Town whose hand had been paralyzed for 
years found full use of it after she had touched 
the hands of the Healer. Also, that a man 
who had been lame for years found himself 
fully recovered after being treated. One man, 



38 Francis Schlatter 

whose baby had been touched by Francis, de- 
clared that the infant had been cured of a high 
fever, which ranted so the day before that the 
little one's life had been despaired of. 



The Healer. 39 



CHAPTER V. 



On the 23(1 day of July, 1895, standing bare- 
headed under the rays of a fierce, burning sun, 
at the same place, was Francis Schlatter, while 
between 400 and 600 persons pushed and 
shoved to obtain a position of advantage. One 
by one the crowd of sickly and infirm persons 
passed before him, and to each some kind word 
was spoken or an inaudible prayer w^as offered 
up. Grasping the hand of those who were 
most infirm, and holding them long enough to 
appeal for a cure, most of the day w^ent by. 

One of the most dramatic incidents of this 
day occurred after Francis had left the little 
room in the adobe and was standing out in the 
spacious porch in front. It was announced 
that all w^ho cared to could shake hands with 
him. As he stood there a long line was formed 
and passed before him. While the people 
passed and there were many who had not 
reached him, four Zuni Indians were seen ad- 
vancing, bearing among them a sick brave, 
whose step was uncertain and whose eyes had 



40 Francis Schlatter 

nearly been put out, it seemed from their ap- 
pearance, by an explosion of powder. 

Francis saw tiiem advancing and he waved 
the crowd back, that room might be made for 
them. When the Indians reached him, all 
threw themselves upon the ground at his feet, 
prostrate before the man in whom their Faith 
was boundless. "Don't prostrate yourselves 
before me,'' said Francis, in their own lan- 
guage; "I want none to kneel to me." Still the 
Indians lay at his feet, and he took each by the 
hand and raised him up. In the center of the 
group stood the sightless Indian, his eyes swol- 
len and inflamed. Schlatter grasped him by 
the hands. The sightless Zuni's efforts to see 
the Healer's face were pitiful in the extreme. 
His upturned face showed the anguish he felt, 
and a quick motion of the head, as though to 
force open the sightless eyes, indicated the 
emotion which stirred his breast. Dropping 
the Indian's hands, Francis passed his hands 
over the patient's eyes, and there are witnesses 
who declare solemnly the inflammation had 
gone down after the touch. Schlatter in- 
formed the Indian he would have to take sev- 
eral treatments. Early in the afternoon of the 
same day a man informed Francis that he was 



The Healer. 41 

badly needed at Barelas, and asked him if he 
would go there. Tliere was a large crowd be- 
fore him at the time, and, motioning the crowd 
back, he answered that he would inform the 
messenger in a moment. 

Down upon his knees he went, his face 
turned up toward the bright blue skies above 
him. His lips moved as if in prayer, and those 
near him heard the soft cadence of the voice, 
not quite a whisper, not quite above it. Rising 
from his knees, Schlatter answered that he 
would go in an hour and a half from that 
time. 

When the time came for him to go, there was 
a wild scramble to see who should have the 
honor of carrying him to his destination. Men 
unhitched teams which did not belong to them 
and fought for the place of honor. Some idea 
of the veneration in which this man was held 
by the people who had gathered around him 
in Old Town may be understood from an inci- 
dent which occurred the day before. An 
American who api^roached the outskirts of 
the crowd was asked by some one if he had seen 
the man about whom all had gathered. "No; 

where is the ?'' was the reply. Scores 

of men in the crowd heard it, and the glances 



42 Francis Schlatter 

from the dark eyes cast upon the speaker were 
full of threatening light. The man under- 
stood and hastily left. For several days there 
was much talk about causing the arrest of 
Francis. When this was learned^ one of the 
most prominent Spanish citizens of Albu- 
querque, one who had yisited the Werner home 
and had seen the people who had gathered 
there for the last two days, said : "There is not 
a large enough police force in Bernalillo 
county to arrest this man when he is in the 
midst of a crowd. Any one who would lay 
hands on him would be torn to pieces. I know 
these people. I know how deeply they are 
wrought uj) over this matter, and I know what 
they would do.^' Nearly every man, woman 
and child in Bernalillo county knows Perfecto 
Armijo, and he is also well known in all parts 
of New Mexico, and no one who knows him 
will for a moment doubt the truth of any state- 
ment he makes. 

Mr. Armijo was questioned as to whether he 
knew anything about the Healer, and he said: 

"Yes^ I have been over there, and stayed for 
some time. There is a great crowd around him 
of people who have come from all parts of the 
surrounding country to be treated by him. He 



The Healer. 43 

treats rich and poor, high and low, with per- 
fect impartiality, and makes no charge for any- 
thing he does/' "But,'' said another man, "did 
you learn of any good that he has done to any 
one, or is he, as some say, only a fake?" "I 
heard of a great many," said Mr. Armijo, "who 
claimed to have been benefited by him." "But 
is there any case in which, to your personal 
knoYv^ledge, he has done any good?" "There 
are a number of cases," said he, "that have 
come to me on such reliable authority that I 
haye no reason to doubt them; but there is 
only one of which I can speak from my own 
personal knowledge." "Well, as to that one; 
have you any objections to telling what it is?" 
"No objections at all," said he; "but, on 
the contrary, I am glad to let it be knovv^n. My 
wife's mother, Mrs. Conception Garcia, has for 
many years past had a paralyzed arm, and was 
not able to make any more use of it than if it 
had been amputated. When she heard of this 
man she determined to go and see him. We 
tried to dissuade her from it, because none of 
the rest of us had any confidence in him. We 
told her that he was merely a ^crazy humbug,^ 
traveling around the country and deceiving the 
ignorant classes, and that if she ran after him 



44 Feanois Schlatter 

she would simply make herself ridiculous and 
cause people to laugh at her for her credulity. 

^^But, notwithstanding all our protests^ she 
was determined to go, and so, to humor her, I 
had the carriage brought and took her oyer to 
Old Town. 

^^Well, she worked her way through the 
crowd and went in and saw^ him, and when she 
came out she had just as good use of the par- 
alyzed arm as she had of the other one, and is 
w^orking around the house at this yery hour, 
with just as good use of both her arms as any 
other woman of her age in the country. That's 
all I know about the man, but that's enough to 
change my opinion of him. A fact like that, 
coming right home to me in my own house, 
doesn't admit of any argument or leaye room 
for any doubt," 

Mariano Armijo, who w^as among the doubt- 
ers before Francis came to Albuquerque, spent 
an eyening with the Healer since his arriyal 
in Albuquerque, and his account of it is yery 
interesting: "We sat in the room with this 
man after the crowd had gone for the day," he 
said. "The only patient present was a blind 
man, who had come down from Denyer to be 
treated. As the man held the blind man's 



The Healer. 45 

hands in his own, the Healer talked to us, tell- 
ing of his experiences and his travels. The 
tale was an interesting one and the time passed 
rapidly. I should judge a half hour passed be- 
fore he dropped the blind man's hands. As he 
did so the blind man sank back in his chair, 
evidently exhausted. He cried out for air, and 
complained of the extreme heat of the room. 
I looked at him and noticed he v/as dripping 
with perspiration. It was evening at the time^ 
and none of the rest of us felt v/arm in the 
least. One of my acquaintances/' continued 
Mr. Armijo, "whom I have known positively 
to have been hardly able to walk at all, met 
me on the street to-day. He was on the oppo- 
site corner when I heard him cry out to me. 
I turned in the direction from which the voice 
came and sav/ this acquaintance v/aving his 
hat in the air and running toward me as nimble 
as a boy. He was perfectly happy and said he 
could walk as well as he ever could. I have 
known personally of his affliction for years,'' 

Tereso Ulevinij who was lame for years, said 
that he had been treated by the Healer, and 
that he had been greatly improved. "I have 
been lame for years. At night I had such ex- 
cruciating pains in my thighs that I have been 



46 Feancis Schlatter 

unable to get any rest for nights at a time. 
Many nights my wife has been up with me a 
dozen times. I went to this man and for the 
last two nights I have had absolutely no pain 
and have slept like a child. I do not pretend 
to understand it, but I know I have been bene- 
fited.'^ 

Mr. Will Hunter^ of Albuquerque, wrote as 
follows regarding the Healer: 



The Healer. 47 



CHAPTER TI. 



Wonderfully like the story of the Scriptures 
as rehearsed in the New Testament is the tale 
upon every lip in the central part of New Mex- 
ico to-day. Wonderfully like the scenes of the 
Bible, in setting and in some of the charac- 
ters, have been the scenes enacted here. 

Here in New Mexico there suddenly burst 
into view, whence no one seems to know, a 
man bearing a striking resemblance to the 
pictures of the Christ who looked upon just 
such scenes as these nearly 1,900 years ago; 
a man who tastes not of food; a man whose 
touch is said to bring sight to the blind, hear- 
ing to the deaf, motion to the halt, peace to 
the suffering. Like the Christ he was first 
doubted by these people, though he came 
among them professing to be no more than he 
appeared. Like the Christ he won his fol- 
lowers by his kindly deeds, his cure of the af- 
flicted, his unselfish devotion to mankind. 
Like the Christ he was persecuted, the higher 
class of the Mexican population threatening 



48 Francis Schlatter 

him as an imposter, a sharper, a schemer, a 
lunatic, and his persecutors he transformed 
into his staunchest friends. 

For more than two weeks he has been fol- 
lowed by hundreds wherever he has gone. To- 
day a constant stream of people passed before 
him, praying that he touch their hands. Blind, 
deaf and halt are led or carried to him, women 
with tiny babies bring them to him to be 
healed of ailments, real or imaginary; old^ 
young, middle aged, ignorant and educated 
Mexicans, Americans of the highest standing 
in the community, visit him at the lowly homes 
he most frequents or in the homes of the rich 
and prominent in which he is a welcome guest. 
Great lines of carriages, and wagons and sad- 
dle horses stand before every house he enters, 
the owners, drivers or riders having come for 
him to take him to the house of some one who 
is suffering. Each and all, high or lowly, he 
treats the same and from no one will he take 
a cent for the services he has performed, 
though money has been repeatedly pressed 
upon him. To all he has the same kindly greet- 
ing, the same kindly treatment. 

Stories of his cures are beyond belief. Many 
of them have been investigated and now even 



The Healer. 49 

the most credulous are willing to admit the 
man has done man}' men good and no man 
harm; that he is honest in his endeavors to aid 
sufrering humanity and consistent in his ac- 
tions. As to whence comes his power opin- 
ions differ. Among the Mexicans few doubt 
it comes direct from heaven ; among the Amer- 
icans it is attributed to animal magnetism and 
the princiT)les upon which the Christian 
Science doctrine is founded. 

Mondaj^ afternoon, July 15, a Mexican at- 
tache of the morning newspaper in this city 
rushed breathlessly into the office, his face 
the picture of amazement. The day previous 
he had been at Peralta, a small town dov/n 
the Eio Grande river, about twenty miles 
south of this city. There, he said, he had seen 
a man who was the perfect picture of the 
I)rints of the Christ which adorn the v/alls of 
the ancient cathedral of San Felipe, the towers 
of which have been outlined against the sky 
for more than 300 years. This man had been 
surrounded all day by crowds of people; he 
had held the hands of a blind man and sight 
had been restored to the patient; he had 
touched the hands of a woman w^ho had been 
paralyzed for years and she left as well as in 



50 Francis Schlatter 

the days of her maidenhood; he had treated 
many others and all have been benefited. 
Since his advent into that yillagCj in a miracu- 
lous manner seven days before, it was known 
he had not tasted food. 

All this the Mexican breathlessly and hur- 
ridly related. His w^ord being doubted he of- 
fered to take his incredulous listeners to the 
man. While all appeared too improbable to 
be given the slightest attention, the news- 
paper instinct prevailed and the next morn- 
ing, before the sun had peeped over the mount- 
ains, the Mexican as driver and guide, the 
writer and two others started off on a ^^fooFs 
errand'' toward Peralta. 

On the wa}'^ everyone met was asked about 
this strange man, whom no one save the driver 
expected to see. Each person asked seemed 
to know who was meant, and in an indefinite 
way something of his whereabouts. All spoke 
of his strange appearance and of the wonder- 
ful things he had done. 

At Peralta, the wagon stopped before a 
house from which stepped an old Mexican, 
walking as nimbly as a boy. In his hand he 
carried a cane, though he made no use of it. 
That he was blind no one thought for a mo- 



The Hea].er. 51 

ment. As he talked it became known that he 
was the blind man whose sight it was alleged 
had been restored. In simple language Jesus 
Yalesquez told his story: 

"For three years/' he said, '^1 have not seen 
my hand before me. I have tried many physi- 
cians for my blindness, but none was able to 
help me. A few days ago this man came to 
town and I went to him. He took my hands 
in his, my right in his left, my left in his right, 
and as he held them he mumbled something 
to himself. After I lefi him my sight began 
to come back. I could tell when the lamp was 
lighted at night. Soon I could see the light. 
Gradually mv sight came back until now I am 
able to see quite j^lainly objects not far away.'' 

Every possible test was made upon the old 
man to discover if he could see. In all he 
proved beyond question that his eyesight was 
fairly good. 

^^^here did this man come from and what 
is his name?*' was asked. 

"Xo one knows his name," answered the 
Mexican. "His coming was strange indeed. 
Some boys went to the top of that black 
mountain there to play and there they found 
this man lying flat upon his back with his 



52 Francis ScHLAfTEfi 

arms stretcliecl up towards heaven. Beside 
liim was a small, tepee-shaped tent and out- 
side this was a couch of blankets. They ran 
from him in terror and the man followed them 
to the village.'^ 

Further down the road the wagon stopped 
at the house of Silverio Martino, a well know^n 
resident of Peralta. Asked about the Healer^ 
for that seemed to be the only name by which 
this strange man was known, Martino said he 
had stopped there while in Peralta and had 
left there his tent and staff. Proudly he con- 
ducted his callers to a little room of the adobe 
house where he had carefully put away a 
small, tepee-shaped tent and a stick, evidently 
cut from a fence board, about twelve feet 
long, bound in places with bits of wire or 
thongs of leather, the ends cut arrow-shaped. 
Martino declared he had watched his guest 
night and day, being relieved by one of his 
family while he slept, and that he would take 
oath the Healer had not tasted food in several 
days. Asked what good this man had done, 
Martino said his mother, Juliana Sedillo, had 
been paralyzed in her left arm so that she 
could not lift it from her side, for sixteen 



years; that the Healer had touched her and 
that she Yv'as then at v/ork in the field. 

Out in the field was found an old Mexican 
woman, working away as though with great 
delight, handling her rude imjplement of ag- 
riculture as well as any of those near her. 

Not being able to question the fact the man 
could see or the woman had full use of her 
arms, the investigators began an inquisition 
to discover whether the man had really been 
blind or the woman paralyzed. Everyone met 
with declared such to have been the case. Fi- 
nally Don Andreas Romero, a highly educated 
Spaniard and one of the best known men in 
the territory, was found, and he declared he 
personally knew that Talesquez had not been 
able to see for three years or the woman to 
use her arm for sixteen years, Don Romero 
also stated that it v/as known bej^ond ques- 
tion the man had not tasted food since he had 
been in the village. 

Through Valencia, across the Rio Grande 
by ford, with water up to the top of the buggy 
seats, through Los Lunas and a number of 
other villages, the Healer was followed, and 
strange stories of his doings were added at 
every mile. At the Indian pueblo of Isleta it 



54 PeANCIS SoHLATfEft 

was learned that the man had been there sev- 
eral hours before and that he had gone to 
Pajarito. 

At Pajarito, in the small parlor of the adobe 
house of Juan Garcia, sat the man whom the 
credulous information-seekers had followed 
nearly fifty miles. 

He is a man of about six feet in height and 
Aveighs probably 160 pounds. His form is that 
of the athlete and like the athlete he has all 
the supple grace of the man of trained mus- 
cles. 

First of all to strike the observer is the re- 
markable likeness between him and the pic- 
tures of Christ. The long flowing browm hair, 
curling slightly at the shoulders over which it 
spread, the brown beard falling gracefully 
upon the breast, the small w^hite patches de- 
void of hair just at the corners of the mouth, 
w^hich mark the perfect Jewish facial adorn- 
ment, were ail there. The eyes, blue and clear 
as the sky without, beamed with a most kindly 
light upon all who approached. The mouth, 
firm and delicately cut, was faintly seen be- 
tween the beard and the mustache. As long 
as the mouth was closed the resemblance be- 
tween the man and a picture of Christ which 



The HEALEit. 55 

adorned one of the walls of the room, was com- 
plete; wlien the lips parted the illusion was 
shattered, for the absence of two teeth from 
the upper jaw robbed the face of its striking 
appearance. For clothing the man wears sim- 
ply a blue calico shirt, a blue jeans ^^ jumper'' 
falling oyer the hips to meet blue over alls, 
much too short and not meeting a pair of 
cheap socks which covered the feet. No hat, 
no shoes, though the sands of New Mexico 
are blistering and the sun intensely hot. 

First to apply to him for the healing touch 
was a relative of the host, an old man who 
had totally lost the sight of one eye. Motion- 
ing him to a seat the Healer took the hands of 
the patient in his own. For five minutes the 
two sat there speechless. The lips of the 
Healer could be seen to move from time to 
time and occasionally his big blue eyes were 
directed upward. Now and then, too, a shud- 
der seemed to pass over him, his body sway- 
ing with the emotion. The old man's sight- 
less orb was directed toward the face of the 
man to whom he had come for succor and his 
body swayed with the emotion of anticipation. 
They sat there speechless until, with a sigh, 



56 ipRANGis Schlatter 

the old man arose and went out into the 
placita. 

Men, women and children took the seat he 
had vacated, and the former proceeding was 
repeated. Some left the chair declaring that 
the pain had vanished; others said they had 
noticed no beneficial results. As the Healer 
held the hands of his patients, he talked with 
the people. 

^^Do you heal by the Christian Science 
method r 

"I know no science; I simply do as I am 
told.'' 

^^What percentage of cures do you effect?'' 
^^I don't know. I treat all v\^ho come to 
me and never think of them after they leave." 
Just at that moment the wife of a prominent 
Mexican asked Schlatter if he w^ould come to 
her home. Schlatter's eyes were turned up- 
ward and after a moment, during which he 
seemed to be praying, he said : 

^^I will go one week from to-day, at noon." 
"Where will you be at that time?" 
"Only my Master know^s. But wherever I 
am, if you send a messenger for me I will come 
at that time." 



•The Healed. 5? 

An hour afterwards, just as a storm crept 
in from the mountains, he started for the In- 
dian village of Isleta. 

The publication of the facts as given above, 
without their being colored in the slightest, 
caused such a commotion as Albuquerque has 
not seen in years. The newspaper giving the 
account was subjected to the most severe crit- 
icism. Among the leading Mexicans of the 
city the feeling against the paper was particu- 
larly strong. The editor was visited in the of- 
fice for several days by lorominent Mexicans, 
who accused him of trying to make out that 
the natives of this territory are more ignorant, 
more gullible and more superstitious than the 
people of other sections of the country. The 
article was considered by these gentlemen as 
a direct attack upon the Mexican population 
and it was confidently asserted by these callers 
that not one iota of foundation could be found 
for the report. Among the Americans the 
story was laughed at as a sensational fabrica- 
tion and few persons believed at first there 
was any such man to be found. 

Many there were, hov/ever, w^ho did believe 
the accounts, and w^ho took pains to ascertain 
if there were any foundation to be found. Peo- 



58 Francis ScHLATtER 

pie, too, began dropping in from the neighbor- 
hood in which the man was reported to have 
been and the tales they told were even more 
strange than any that had been printed. The 
news spread rapidly and in a few days a blind 
man came from Denver to be treated. With a 
guide he spent Saturday scouring the country 
for him, but to no purpose. 

Sunday morning Schlatter appeared in Al- 
buquerque, at the home of Mrs. Werner, in 
that portion of the city called Old Town. 

The news of his arrival spread through the 
city like wildfire, and from the moment of his 
arrival early Sunday morning until late that 
night, hundreds of j)eople were struggling to 
get to his side. Not for years have such 
crowds gathered as were there that Sunday 
and during the seven days following that 
Schlatter has been in this city. Men upon 
whom the weight of years was resting heavily; 
men in the prime of life; mere boys, followed 
him. Old women, whose black locks were 
sprinkled with gray, whose eyes were dim and 
whose cheeks were furrowed, followed him. 
Matrons bearing in their arms infants whose 
eyes have scarce seen the light and whose tiny 
faces indicate the terrible struggle against 



The Healer. 59 

the odds of a sweltering summer, followed him 
by hundreds, hoping that a touch of this 
strange man's hand might bring back the roses 
to their cheeks and the light to the children's 
eyes. Young girls followed him. All were 
dressed in gala attire, the bright colors so much 
ajBiected hj the Spaniards lending dashes of 
color to the otherwise somber scene. 

At first few persons but the Mexicans went 
to him for treatment. As stories from the 
lips of the patients themselves filled the air, 
the more highly educated Spaniards and the 
Americans began looking into the matter. 
Every day the Healer made converts, and men 
who had decried him as an imposter publicly 
apologized for their unbelief and their unkind 
remarks. The Healer began yielding to the 
pleadings of some of the most wealthy citizens 
vrho desired him to go to their homes until, 
when it became generally known he would go 
when asked, he has been the guest of some 
of the most prominent citizens of Albu- 
querque. All admitted there was something 
remarkable about the man. All admired him 
for his honesty of purpose and endeavor, and 
all admitted he did much good. 

Many of the leading people of the city were 



60 Francis Schlatter 

among his patients, and the result of their 
treatment was watched by the entire city. 
One prominent citizen promised to build 
Schlatter a church if his wife be cured of an 
affliction. 

In spite of the laudation giyen him, in spite 
of the fact he is eagerly sought by the rich and 
influential, Schlatter's manner did not change 
in the least. 

He treated all alike, and seemed not to know 
or see the person he grasped by the hand. 

Though money and clothing have been of- 
fered him by hundreds of people, he was never 
known, save in one instance, to take any- 
thing tendered. That one exception occurred 
at Tome, a small town near Peralta. A man 
w^hom he had cured insisted upon his taking 
money, but Schlatter persistently^ refused un- 
til it was seen refusals w^ould do no good. Then 
he stretched out his hand for the money. Ee- 
ceiving it, he turned to a number of poor peo- 
ple vv^ho were about him and divided it among 
them. 

"I have no use for money,'' was all he said. 

Most remarkable about him, perhaps, was 
that he partook of no solid food. For seventeen 
days he was watched by men of repute, who 



The Healer. 61 

were willing to take oath he put nothing 
into his stomach in that time except water. 

Still another phase of the case which 
attracted much comment was the clairvoyant 
power of the man. Numerous instances were 
cited where the man foretold calls that would 
be made upon him when the caller him- 
self was still among the skeptics and had no 
idea of going. He foretold, too, occurrences of 
every-day business life which affected him 
when there was no possible chance of his know- 
ing aught of the subject-matter. 

Converts to this strange man's cause, of 
course, have not been made without some rea- 
son for it. This something has been his cure of 
peoT)le of all classes. 

Charles Slamp, whose foot had been crushed 
by a railroad car, said: 

"About two hours after I had been treated 
by this man, after I had been carried home, 
being unable to bear the least weight on the in- 
jured foot, and not knowing why, I jumped 
out of bed, alighting squarely on it. Since then 
I have been able to walk upon it without pain.'' 

Mrs. C. Oxendine, wife of a well-known ex- 
pressman of this city, was almost helpless with 
i^heumatism. She was treated by Schlatter, 



62 Francis Schlatter 

and since, her husband states, she has been as 
well as she ever was in her life, 

Peter H. McGuire, of Winslow, who was so 
badly affected with rheumatism that he had to 
walk with two crutches, threw both away after 
he had visited the Healer. Since he has had 
no return of the trouble. 

0. J. Roentgen, of Denver, says his wife, who 
was stone deaf before she was treated by 
Schlatter, is now able to carry on a conversa- 
tion in ordinary conversational tones. 

These are but samples of the tales which are 
repeated by hundreds in this city. Whether 
any of the so-called cures will prove perma- 
nent remains to be seen. 

Some of the opinions of the man among the 
peoi)le who have studied him are of interest: 

Walter C. Hadley is probablj^ the wealthiest 
man in this city. He is an ex-territorial sena- 
tor and ex-editor. He is prominently con- 
nected with all the advanced movements in the 
city and of the territory and the Southwest. 
In order to study Schlatter, he invited him to 
his home. After his guest had gone, Mr, Had- 
ley said: 

"This much I will say for him: He is not an 
imposter. He is just what he represents him- 



The Healeb. 63 

self to be. He is consistent in all his actions. 
That he has power I cannot deny, since I have 
been treated by him. Whence it comes I can- 
not say. That he has the power of animal mag- 
netism to a wonderful degree cannot be denied. 
The science of psychic force is still in its in- 
fancy. Whether these things explain it all I 
cannot say. Such power as he has must work 
for good, and when the i)ossessor, who or what 
he may be, gives it freely for the benefit of 
mankind, receiving for its exercise no portion 
of this world's worldly goods, he should not be 
discouraged by intelligent persons in any walk 
of life.'' 

Don Tomas Guiterrez, who for years has held 
the position of probate court judge here, and 
who vfas one of the indignant doubters from 
the first, says: 

"I do not pretend to explain it, but the fact 
is this man is doing many very wonderful 
things and is accomplishing much good. This 
is so plain to any one who will take the trouble 
to investigate, that it would be idle for any 
one to deny it. I am not in any manner super- 
stitious, but I have seen enough to convince 
my judgment." 



64 Fbancis Schlatter 



CHAPTEE Til. 



Through the instrumentality of Mr. Fox, 
who visited the Healer at Albuquerque^ he was 
induced to come to Denver. Pursuant to that 
understanding, Francis left Albuquerque on 
the evening of the 21st day of August, 1895, 
arriving in Denver the morning of the 23d. 
His coming had been heralded by the new^s- 
papers and a great mass of humanity beseiged 
the private residence in iSTorth Denver. All 
were anxious for a glimpse of Francis Schlat- 
ter, the "second Messiah,^' the Healer, as he 
was called. To all admittance vf as denied. Af- 
ter his forty days' fast, the man who had 
grown suddenly famous insisted upon three 
weeks of perfect quiet. Some came with full 
Faith that ailments that baffled physicians 
would be cured by the laying on of hands. 
Hundreds went out of curiositj^ only. 
Stretched upon a couch in the home of a man 
who regarded his strange guest with the ut- 
most reverence, surrounded by dainties to 
tempt his appetite, looking from sky-blue 




E. L. Fox, WITH WHOM THE HeALER LIVED IN DeNVER. 



The Healer. 65 

eyes which flashed a kindly light, with parted 
lips, smiling, an intellectual countenance, laid 
a man who has attracted wide attention within 
the past months. As to his personality, his 
lips Yv^ere sealed. To the direct question, ^^Are 
you the Christ?" he answers, ^^I am." 

Without the question he made no pretense 
as to who or what he was. Whatever may be 
the views of the individual ag to Francis 
Schlatter, no one who conversed with him will 
deny that he was a person of wonderful mag- 
netism, that he has supreme Faith in his mis- 
sion, that he thoroughly believed that he v/as 
sent by One above, and that he v^as commis- 
sioned to heal the sick. The most noticeable 
thing to the visitor was the perfect, child-like 
simplicity of the man. There was no argument 
from him. The whole tenor of his speech was 
that no proof was needed. The man left his 
work to tell the story. The skeptical asked 
him what proof he had that he v\^as the Christ. 
The only answer was that his v/orks of heal- 
ing showed that he was on earth for that pur- 
pose. 

The incredulous left the couch with the con- 
viction that while the claim that this human 
being was sent to do v^'onders may be untrue. 



66 Francis Schlatter 

there could be no possible doubt that Francis 
Schlatter believed that he had been selected 
to perform what seemed to be miracles. There 
was a strange light in the eye, there was a di- 
rectness and earnestness in the speech that 
left no room for the conclusion that his invalid 
was a fakir. He made no effort to conceal any- 
thing. He told the visitor that he had noth- 
ing to say as to who he was. When the ques- 
tion w^as asked him as to whether he was the 
Christ, he said it was his duty to answer. No 
amount of twisting or modifying the purport 
of what he said changed the answer, which al- 
ways was, "I am." If he possessed no power, 
if his control over physical weakness w^as a 
myth, the Faith that predominated the words 
and the acts of the man impressed one. His 
confidence in his ability to perform anything 
that the Father wished done was the master- 
ing thought and the one thing that caused 
the scoffer to hold his tongue. It would seem 
sacrilegious to deny a conclusion in which the 
man had such an evident abiding Faith. 

Some said there had been an attempt on the 
part of Francis to conform his appearance to 
some of the later ideas on this subject. He cer- 
tainly had an intellectual countenance, and the 



The Healer. 67 

hair, growing long and wavy, made a striking 
resemblance to some of the pictures extant of 
the Great Healer. Before Francis had left the 
Union hotel (his first stopping place on his ar- 
rival in Denver), he had many callers. This 
was at 7 o'clock in the morning, and before 
noon the hotel clerk had directed at least 300 
people to the home of ex- Alderman E. L. Fox, 
in North Denver, where it was supposed the 
visitor would stop. These invalids made haste 
to this address, but all were disappointed. 
Francis had gone to the residence of Harry 
Hauenstein, 336 Fairview avenue. The crowd 
was again doomed to failure in the attempt to 
reach the man who was believed to possess the 
power to heal. At the door all were informed 
that Schlatter could not be seen. They went 
avv^ay sorrowfully, the halt and the blind. It 
was a motley assembly that beseiged the door 
of the cottage all day long. The blind ow^ner 
told the visitors that for the present the Healer 
must have absolute quiet. Many suffered from 
rheumatism, from palsy, from all manner of 
diseases, as well as bereft of sight, and begged 
in vain for an audience with the man whose 
fame had gone abroad from the quiet little 
Mexican village. When a paper man appeared 



68 Francis Schlatter 

at the cottage, he was made welcome. The only 
thing to be determined was as to whether he 
really was a reporter. This fact being demon- 
strated, he was admitted to the parlor, where 
he found Francis lying upon a couch. "I knew 
you were coming,'' said the man, with a smile. 
"How is that?'' he was asked. "O," he replied, 
"the Father told me so." The second Messiah 
was evidently yery weak physically. A basket 
of peaches and grapes was upon the chair. 
There was a tumbler of ice water at his side 
also. "Fill this, please," he said to Mr. Hauen- 
Btein. "Water is the best thing, after all. Then 
I want to talk for a few minutes." He said 
that he was very weak, and had determined 
that he would see no one for at least three 
weeks. His fast of forty days and forty nights 
had left Wm decidedly enfeebled. The arms 
were thin, being almost devoid of flesh. There 
were no symptoms of disease, but he looked 
weak. The skin, usually of dark color, had 
become white. 

His long hair was here and there tinged 
with gray, a smile made the features interest- 
ing. Francis has a well-formed mouth and 
his long teeth, made prominent by a short 
upper lip, did not detract from his striking 



The Healer. 69 

appearance. It was impossible to describe the 
peculiar light that shined from his bright blue 
eyes. Though pale, the face had an intellec- 
tual and not unhealthy look. He chose to 
tell what he had to say in his ov/n way, and 
spoke with few interruptions. He said that 
his appetite had not been good since the long 
fast. He had suffered greatly on the jour- 
ney from Albuquerque. 

"It would have driven any man crazy,'' said 
Francis. "But,'' he added, with a smile, "I 
know I have to go through this suffering." 

"What is there about this claim that you 
are the Christ?" asked in an anxious mind. 

"I never claimed that I was the Christ," re- 
sponded Francis. "My mission is to heal. 
When the question is put straight to me I 
have to answer it. Otherwise I never say a 
word.^' 

"Are you the Christ?'^ asked the same in- 
dividual. 

"I am," promptly responded Francis. 

"But what proof have you of the fact? How 
do you pretend to say that you are Christ, the 
Son of God?" 

"I have plenty of proof that I am the 
Christ," he responded. "Four have seen the 



70 Francis Schlatteb 

proof. Three of them are Mexicans. I have 
proven I am Christ by my works. The Father 
does not want the work done instantly. Some 
people say, ^If you are the Christ, why don't 
you cure instantly?' The Father does not 
want it that way. The blind will see and the 
deaf will hear, though.'' 

This last statement was made in an assur- 
ing and calm tone, and as though that matter 
was finally and irrevocably settled. 

"And there will be a stranger effect here 
than in Albuquerque," he continued. "But it 
will never be instantly. 

"What would be the use of giving proof, 
anyway," he mused, dreamily. "They w^ouldn't 
believe it because, they wouldn't understand. 
I don't ask them to believe. If they ask me 
the question I have to answer. If they don't 
believe me, that's their own business." 

"What do you mean by saying that the ef- 
fect will be stronger in Denver than in Albu- 
querque?" 

"Because," he replied, "the Father tells me 
so. It is not I that does the healing, but 
the Father. Now, I will not see anyone for 
three weeks. But it doesn't make any differ- 
ence. I don't need to see a person. Just a 



The Healer. 71 

waste of time for all these people who have 
wanted to get to see me to-day to be cured. 
People coming here to see me can't see me. 
The mere fact of their coming is enough. The 
Father puts a force at work that will cure 
them. For instance^ in New Mexico, a party 
wrote me a letter from Santa Fe, asking when 
he could see me to be healed. The letter was 
not mailed, but the party began to grow bet- 
ter. The letter was handed me some time 
after it Vv^^as written. That wish to be cured 
set the force at work. 

^^The Father gives me power/' he said, "else 
I have nothing. With Him I can do all things. 
If He doesn't want me to heal I can't heal. I 
must do His wish and will in the smallest par- 
ticular and in this I never failed." 

Here the speakers voice grew solemn and 
eloquent. The broken German accent, the 
lovv^ spoken words made the scene impressive 
as he continued: 

^^No matter what was ahead of me, when 
He told me to go I went; when He told me 
to stay I stayed; when He told me to lay by 
the roadside for days, I remained there." 

"As I understand you, w^hat you mean to 
say is not that you are really Christ, the Son 



12 Francis Schlatter 

of Godj but that you possess from the Father 
a power that is not given to other men?^' 

^'In answer to your question as to whether 
I was the Christ I said^ ^ I am/ '' replied Fran- 
cis, quietly, ^^That is the answer Jesus Christ 
gave. He is the Father. I am the Son. Only 
the power that the Father gives, do I have. 

"Ryan has slept with me tv/o nights/' he 
said, "he knows he's a hundred per cent, bet- 
ter.'^ 

Francis said that he would rest for three 
weeks; he did not care who came. 

"These people can just as well stay at 
home,'' he declared. "If they only wish in good 
Faith to be cured, the Father v/ill cure them 
without seeing me. If they get mad they lose 
more than they make. That don't trouble me. 
If the Father wanted me to work, I v/ould be 
at work." 

Francis announced that he was very weak 
and needed rest. While his form was con- 
siderably emaciated, Francis had not the ap- 
pearance of suffering from any wasting dis- 
ease. His cheeks, although paler than usual, 
had a ruddy glow, and when he talked one 
did not even notice the pallor. He spoke with 
a German accent and his words, though 



The Healer. 73 

spoken slowly, were at times very difficult to 
understand correctly, but at the slightest inti- 
mation that the visitor did not follow his lan- 
guage, he at once repeated w^hat he had said. 



74 Francis Schlatter 



CHAPTER Till. 



The eyening of liis first day in Denver he 
appeared very weak, so much so that Mr. Fox 
was alarmed about his condition, which the 
Healer seemed to notice, and in a reassuring 
tone he said: ^^Don^t worry; I will be better 
in the morning/^ and true to his saying, he 
V\^as a new man in the morning, all pain hav- 
ing left him, and he appeared to have gained 
twenty pounds in weight. From that time 
on until he began public treatment, he grew 
strong and well. 

The beginning of his work in Denver is thus 
described by the Rocky Mountain News: 

After a short rest, Francis Schlatter, the 
New Mexican Messiah, emerged from his se- 
clusion. Persons in search of this strange 
Healer had no difficulty in locating the spot 
he had chosen for his work. All day a steady 
stream of humanity poured through North 
Denver toward the cottage of Mr. E. L. Fox, 
of 625 Witter street, where the Healer made 
his home. The stream gathered in front of 



The Healer. 75 

the neat little wooden residence. Leaning 
with one hand against the front fence, stood 
a benign faced man with long hair falling over 
his shoulders. The Healer wore no coat, and 
during all the weary hours from 9 o'clock in 
the morning till 4 o'clock in the afternoon he 
spoke but few words. His lips moved as if 
in prayer. Occasionally he cast his eyes up- 
ward, but at all times there was an expression 
of peaceful happiness upon his countenance. 
The Healer always stopped a short time for 
rest at noon. The crowd continued to gather, 
and when he appeared at the front door of 
the cottage there were fully 1,500 persons oc- 
cupying the pavement and the street. Every 
nationality was represented in the throng. 
The blind, the lame and the deaf vf ere there, 
and scores of persons afflicted with rheum- 
atism appeared during the afternoon. Many 
came to see, and after their curiosity was sat- 
isfied they retired and wondered what manner 
of m^an it was that thus gave his strength and 
his time without money and without price for 
the benefit of his fellow-beings. Some per- 
sons of both sexes seemed strangely infatu- 
ated y>dth the Messiah. They stood for hours 
and looked steadily into his face, and even 



76 Francis Schlatter 

after Francis retired from his arduous task, 
many lingered, as if they stood on sacred 
ground. Before dark the crowd melted away, 
but they left a great pile of handkerchiefs, 
which Francis was supposed to take into his 
hands and bless. Several hundred handker- 
chiefs were treated by Schlatter each day and 
distributed back to their owners. It was esti- 
mated that the total number of handkerchiefs 
reached more than 1,000 the first day. This 
was about the number of persons who clasped 
the hands of the Healer. After the first day 
the distribution of handkerchiefs took place 
but twice a day, at 10 o'clock in the morning 
and at 4:30 in the afternoon. 

It was the desire of the Healer that each 
person that applied for treatment should leave 
a handkerchief, to be afterwards used in home 
treatment. A large clothes basket was filled 
with the handkerchiefs left over from the first 
day, to be distributed the following forenoon. 

The method of treatment follow^ed by Fran- 
cis has been described and is well known. He 
took the patient by both hands and grasped 
firmly for periods that varied, according to the 
severity of the ailment. The column passed 
by the Healer at the rate of three persons a 



The Healer. 77 

minute. Many of the men took off their hats 
as they approached the silent individual, who 
received the millionaire and the pauper upon 
an equal footing. Ladies dressed in the rich- 
est silks stood in line with the wives and chil- 
dren of Italian gardeners. Men who have held 
responsible offices in the county and city were 
seen in the column. ^^We are all the children 
of one Fatherj'^ was a favorite expression of the 
Healer. An affecting scene was the presenta- 
tion of an afflicted lady who was brought late 
to the Healer. The patient was brought to the 
spot in a carriage. Effort was made by her 
friends to induce Francis to leave the place 
and treat the invalid in the carriage. The press 
was so great that they could not approach near 
enough to make their wants known. After 
they had waited an hour or more, the assist- 
ance of strong arms was secured and the pa- 
tient w^as lifted and carried to the 
Healer. Her wan face and sunken eyes 
told of suffering unto death. Even the 
most skeptical person in the crowd bowed 
his or her head in silence as Schlatter 
solemnly performed the act which he said has 
never yet failed to bring relief. A blind man 
came next, ^^I have traveled 360 miles to feel 



78 Francis Schlatter 

the grasp of your hands/' was his greeting, as 
the strong clasp of Francis closed oyer his fin- 
gers. This was one of the few moments when 
Schlatter broke his usual silence. "Your sight 
will be restored within three months/' said the 
Healer; "have Faith,'' Next came a mining 
man of Georgetown^ of this state. "About a 
month ago I received a letter from Mr. Schlat- 
ter, in reply to one which I had written." said 
Mr D. M. Powers. "He told me to use the let- 
ter to cure my pains. For two years I had been 
afflicted with rheumatism, and had reached 
such a stage that I prayed for death every day. 
All medicine failed and I gave up hope, until 
I heard of the cures made by the Healer in New 
Mexico. I tried the effect of laying the letter 
on the spots that pained me most. I grew bet- 
ter and was well within a month. One month 
previous I could not walk. Now I can strike 
quite a gait." The Georgetov/n man was ac- 
companied by tw^o other companions in pain, 
who returned home confident that their cure 
was effected. One of the men was affected 
with rheumatism, and the other with deafness. 
Mr. Fox gathered the handkerchiefs as they 
poured in. He was assisted by two other gen- 
tlemen. A big black dog that belonged on the 



O 

6 

O 
O 









The Healer. 79 

premises sat in the rear of the yard and barked 
at the strangers as they gathered in front of 
the house. People rode up in carriages, took a 
long look at the Healer, and then rode away. 
The women were visibly affected at the strange 
scene. A very pretty little woman, whose ap- 
pearance gave the impression of perfect health, 
came up. She looked at Francis very curi- 
ously as he held her delicate white hands in his 
broad palms. Then came an intelligent-look- 
ing man of flfty-flve or sixty years. He was 
dressed in a fine suit of black, and his bearing 
indicated that he was a minister of the gospel 
or a lav\ yer. He gave no indication of the ef- 
fect of the personal contact with the silent and 
mysterious personage. A woman with an ex- 
pression of pain on her face next occupied the 
attention of Francis. This patient evidently 
had exhausted the known remedies for her 
ailment, and she prayed devoutedly as she 
stood for a minute before the Healer. The next 
was D. K. Tammany, a well-known Denver 
man, who held up his arm, vv^hich was stiff. A 
few^ minutes after he said: ^^I have suffered 
from a stiffness in my right wrist for six years. 
It was impossible for me to bend my wrist or 
to move my thumb. See vliat I can do now.'^ 

6 



80 Fkancis Schlatter 

The man bent his wrist without apparent ef- 
fort. He called attention to a moisture which 
had appeared on his hand, and remarked that 
he had noticed nothing of the kind for years. 

One of the happiest men in Denver on that 
day was W. C. Dillon. ^^Inflammatory rheuma- 
tism, with gout symptoms, was my trouhle,^^ 
said he. "I have suffered the tortures of hades 
for tv/o years, but I feel that half my pains are 
already gone. When Mr. Schlatter first 
grasped my hand I could not close my fingers. 
Within a minute I was able to grasp harder 
than he. When I reached this spot I could not 
move a joint. Now all my joints are flexible/' 

An Indian mother and tv/o comelj?- daughters 
appeared and were treated. The mother and 
daughters looked in absolutely perfect health, 
the daughters being two of the handsomest 
women on the grounds during that day. 

"When He sends it, I have it. When He does 
not send it, I do not have it. It all depends 
upon what He sends. God is the giver of all 
things.'^ These were the words of Francis in 
reply to a question from a man in the crowd. 
While the Healer spoke the work of treatment 
continued without cessation. At times Fran- 
cis sighed, but not from w^eakness. He said he 



The Healer. 81 

never felt stronger in his life. An old woman 
occupied a place in front of the Healer for a 
long time during the day. She seemed to be 
engaged in prayer, and little noticed the 
stream that passed along. At last she was 
given opportunity to clasp the hand of Francis. 
She retired one or two paces and held her 
hands together^ as if in the attitude of suppli- 
cation or adoration. The eyes of the Healer 
fell upon the poor woman. "By and by it will 
be all right," said Francis, in an assuring tone 
of voice. "In seven months it will be all right.'^ 
The woman said nothing in reply, but the ex- 
pression of gladness that smoothed out her 
wrinkled face transformed her again to the 
years of youth. 

After the Healer retired to the house he 
talked freely upon his work. "It's day and 
night work/' said he. "The mail this morning 
brought me many letters, and the afternoon 
mail has not yet arrived. I try to answer every 
letter. The Father gives me strength.'' The 
handkerchiefs were brought in and Francis 
treated a big basket full of them as he talked. 
Mr. Fox came into the room with his daugh- 
ter, who had just returned from school. Miss 
Fox was afflicted with deafness, but stated that 



82 Prangis Schlatter 

under treatment of the Healer her trouble had 
almost disappeared. ^^I am acting under the 
will of the Father/^ said Francis^ "and will con- 
tinue to treat all that come until the 16th of 
November, when I shall take a rest of two 
weeks. I am alwaj^s happy/' said Francis, 
in reply to a remark that he seemed so cheer- 
ful; "just as happy in a jail as in a palace. I 
haye no need of monej^; it would be only a 
trouble. When Father w^ants me to get any- 
thing, I get it. I do His will. It is all heal- 
ing now. I never preach.'^ "Mr. Schlatter/' 
inquired a listener, "what do you say when 
you pray?'' "I praj'^ the Lord's prayer," was 
the response; "it is enough. You may use 
forms of your own, but the Lord's prayer is 
all I use." 

The Healer talked at length concerning his 
experiences of the past two years. He said he 
liked to study geometry, but had little taste 
for books. He read the Bible when he got a 
chance, but he was reading the Old Testa- 
ment, especially the chapters written by the 
prophets. "I couldn't read the Bible in jail," 
said Francis; "they wouldn't let me have a 
Bible there." This was in Hot Springs, Arkan- 
sas. 



The Healek. 83 

A young man succeeded in gaining an en- 
trance into the room and was treated for 
crooked eyes. Francis told him his eyes would 
be straightened in two months, and advised 
him to wear a handkerchief on his chest day 
and night. "It will make you a better man all 
over," said he, as he handed a handkerchief to 
the patient. 

The crowd seemed hungry to gain a sight of 
the Healer again, and Mr. Fox and his wife 
had great difficulty in preventing the throng 
from pushing its way through the front and 
back doors. From the experiences of the first 
day, the hosts of Francis expressed a fear that 
they would not be able to endure the strain of 
the two months that were to follow. 



84 Francis SohlatteS 



CHAPTER IX. 



A Yoice near the end of the blue cable car, 
in North Denver, kept piping: "Right this 
way; two blocks to the Healer's house/' It 
was not the voice of a professional "barker,'' 
but came from a group of young women that 
sat on the stoop of a pretentious-looking home 
near the corner of Goss street and Fairview 
avenue. One of the party explained afterwards 
that it was a matter of remaining indoors and 
having the door bell rung by people v/ho 
wanted to know where the Healer was. "So," 
said a pert miss, "we just thought we would 
stay out on the stoop, and when the crowds 
came by tell them where to find the wonder- 
ful man." 

The scenes about the Fox residence were the 
same as on previous days, but in extended 
form so far as the number of supplicants for 
relief and curious people, who wanted to see 
Francis, were concerned. From early in the 
morning until after the hour when "The New 
Mexican Messiah" closed his day's work to the 



The Sealm. 8S 

p^^v^lie — 4 o'clock — the car lines carried thou- 
sands to the new mount, and conductors on the 
lines of cars that go within two blocks of the 
house said the road never did such a business 
as was recorded during Schlatter's stay in 
Denver. All sorts of people tumbled over each 
other during the earlier hours of the d^j in 
their eagerness to be first on the ground. The 
lame and the halt, the blind, the sufferer from 
ijarab/sivS, and countless others with ailments 
of various kinds, until the entire list in ma- 
teria medica v\^ould have to be exhausted to 
name them. It was a. strangely odd but fas- 
cinating sight, 

Francis stood in the yard of the Fox home, 
his swarthy face illuminated with a glad and 
peaceful smile and his strong features brought 
into prominence by the background of his long 
hair, which fell in ringlets below his should- 
ers. Outside, extending across the street and 
up and down the thoroughfare were many 
hundreds of men, v/omen and children. They 
seemed to be oblivious to the intensity of the 
heat, and for hours stood in the svv^eltering 
sun, pushing and crowding each other, the 
sole aim in life being to get close enough to 
the wonderful man to have him touch them. 



86 Francis Schlatter 

All were not ill; many were hale and hearty, 
but the infection to have Schlatter bless their 
handkerchiefs or say a word to them was epi- 
demic. In the midst of all the Healer was 
unperturbed. 

He had a kind word for all^ and though at 
times he was closely crowded by the mass of 
humanity that pressed against the fence that 
separated them, he managed to attend to the 
appeals of about 2^000 souls. 

An exciting incident occurred about mid- 
day, when a large and prosperous looking man 
¥/ho had stood in the sun, succumbed to the 
effects of the heat and fainted. A pathway 
was made and Francis made his way to the 
side of the prostrate man. He took both his 
hands in his own and almost instantly the 
stricken man revived and passed out of the 
crowd with a gladsome smile upon his face. 
Whether his faint was a ruse in order to save 
time and get the hand of the Healer was a 
matter of conjecture, but there were those in 
the crowd who intimated that such was the 
plan of the man. 

On the outskirts of the crowd were many car- 
riages that contained prominent society buds 
and matrons. They visited the scene evidently 



The Healer. 87 

out of curiosity, for they remained in the ve- 
hicles, and after w^atching the strange sight 
which could only be likened to a Scriptural 
scene, drove away. As the hour at which the 
Good Samaritan closed his work approached, 
the crowd seemed not to have diminished in 
the least. Intuitively the strange man seemed 
to know the hour, for just as several watches 
pointed to the time, he ceased his w^ork, learn- 
ing first that there were no very urgent cases 
in the crowd. 

His benediction, just prior to retiring in- 
doors, was : ^^All ye that believe will feel bet- 
ter in three hours. Just believe and thou 
shalt receive.'' As Francis pronounced these 
words he raised his hands, palms dow^n, and 
bowed his head. 

The Healer v\^as found in his study and 
seated at a desk opening letters, a bundle of 
something like 150 or 200 being at his right 
hand. A letter post-marked St. John, from 
far-away New Brunswick, addressed care of 
The Daily News, v/as opened and contained a 
silk handkerchief, ladies^ size, and a request 
in the letter w^as that he bless it. 

"I receive many such each day,'^ said Fran- 
cis. 



88 Francis SoHLAf tss 

"How do I ans\ver them?'' he saidj repeat- 
ing a question. "Oh, that does not bother me; 
see that pile over there/' and Francis pointed 
to about 100 letters on a side table. "1 an- 
swered those last evening and did not remain 
up late either. Yes,-' he said^ "a great many 
of the letters contained handkerchiefs, but it 
is not necessar;/ for people to send them« If I 
write them they will have the same effect, that 
is^ if they have Faith and believe in Him." 

Many of the letters, Francis said, simply 
asked advice and others enumerated ailments 
for which relief was beseeched» Still others 
v\^ere from people Vv^ho have experienced the 
wonderful healing powers of the man and who 
wrote in grateful w^ords, attesting their Faith 
in his marvelous povvers. One ladj^, who 
signed herself Mary Williamson, at Albu- 
querque, New Mexico, gave permission to 
publish her letter. In it she expressed thanks 
for restored health. For over six years Mrs. 
Williamson suffered from nervous prostra- 
tion, and in trying to alleviate her suffering 
became a victim of the morjihine habit. She 
visited Francis while he was at Albuquerque, 
and testified that the Healer, without know- 




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d 



a 
> 

C 

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td 
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The HsALEft. 89 

ing her ailment and by simply laying his 
hands upon her, cured her completely. 

Francis was asked why he did not secure 
the services of a secretary to attend to his 
constantly increasing correspondence. He 
shook his head and said it would not do. The 
work was for him. A letter written hj any- 
one else would have no effect. The Divine 
power of which he claims to be possessed he 
said could not be transmitted through others. 
In this connection Francis said he wished peo- 
ple would write and not come in person. He 
claimed that he could perform the same mir- 
acles through a letter that he could in per- 
son, but the people must have Faith. 



90 Francis SoHLATTEit 



CHAPTER X. 



Zola's materialistic pen could not oyerdraw 
the Healer. Five days prior to the close of 
the work in Denver the union depot was 
thronged with sickj blind and hopeless, they 
were guided by Faith in Francis, and they 
poured through the gates in great crovv'ds. 
A penitential observance created an air of 
asceticism that awed the beholders. 

In anticipation of the Healers retreat, 
which Francis said the Father had marked 
out for him before his departure for new 
fields, the mysterious man, w^ho confounded 
the science of the world w^as gradually re- 
straining his appetite and partook only most 
sparingly of the simplest articles of food. One 
slice of bread and butter and a glass of wine 
constituted his supper. He ate no meat and 
intimated that he might fast again. At times 
there was an air of solemnity about the Healer 
that filled his faithful attendants with awe. 
In such moments he had little to say, and the 
expression on his face indicated that his mind 



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W 

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ft 
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ft 
O 

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pq 

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The Healer. 91 

was far away. In the opinion of some he was 
holding communion with a power higher than 
earth — the power from which he derived the 
inspiration that carried him through his re- 
markable exertions from day- to day. There 
was no doubt of a change of some kind in 
Schlatter. He saw the tremendous responsi- 
bility he had undertaken and the procession 
of pain-stricken and deformed humanity that 
passed before him each dsij made a deep im- 
pression upon his symi)athies. 

While he was evidently preparing for 
greater vf ork than he had ever yet undertaken^ 
he faced the future with absolute Faith in the 
Divine assistance v/hich he believed accom- 
panied him eyeTj moment of his life and di- 
rected every action. 

"I am nothing/^ said Francis, as he sat in 
the room v\^here he made his home for months, 
"but the Father is everything. Have Faith 
in the Father and all will be w^ell/' was his 
favorite expression. 

Francis returned from the treatment of an 
invalid, to v^^hom he devoted over two hours. 
He appeared the image of health, and at the 
mention of the great crovvds which were ex:- 



92 Francis Schlatter 

pected during the last week, his eyes flashed 
and his face beamed. 

"I have treated 1,200 to 1,500 a day up to 
the present time/^ said Francis, ^^but this week 
the}^ will move faster. There will be some 
pretty fast w^ork this week.'' 

"Is a quick treatment as efficacious as a 
long one?^' asked a listener. 

"Oh, yes,'' v/as the replj^, "all that is really 
necessary is for me to touch them, but the 
people would not be satisfied. In cases where 
the persons are too Y\^eak to stand in line let 
their friends send a handkerchief. The hand- 
kerchief is just as good as a treatment.'^ 

"Mr. Schlatter, is it positively sure that you 
will stop public work soon?" 

"That is certain," replied Francis, "I will 
stoj) next Friday and go to work upon the let- 
ters. I will not attempt to answer any letters, 
but will return the handkerchiefs. Come and 
see what I have to do before I get through in 
Denver." 

The Healer led the party to whom his con- 
versation was addressed into a neat little bed- 
room, where the eye v/as greeted by a. great 
pile of letters, said to number more than 50,- 



The Healer, 93 

000. The letters were piled upon a bed and 
reached nearly to the ceiling. 

"If I should try to answer every one of 
these/^ said Francis, "there would be a year's 
work before me. All I can hoj^e to do is to 
handle the handkerchiefs and return them by 
mail." 

In speaking of the future, Francis was ex- 
ceedingly uncommunicative. He said he had 
set no date for leaving the city and may re- 
main several weeks. His attention was called 
to tlie rei^ort that friends had leased a hall in 
which for him to appear after his advent in 
Chicago. 

"They made a mistake/' said Francis. "I 
have not been consulted in the matter, and 
it is not at all probable that I will go to any 
hall. I cannot say where I shall stop in the 
city, how long I will stay or where I shall 
go Vv'hen I leave Chicago. The Father will 
decide,'' 

Schlatter's history showed that if he was 
not kindly received in any town he obeyed the 
Scriptural injunction and shook the dust of 
the place from his feet at the first favorable 
moment 



94 Peanois Schlatter 

His theory was that if one town didn't want 
him, there were others where he would be wel- 
comed. While the Healer partook of his fru- 
gal repast, a long procession passed through 
the gate at the union depot. Every train that 
came into the city brought scores of persons 
v/ho came to Denyer for the express purpose of 
receiving treatment from Schlatter. The 
Union Pacific train from Omaha brought 250 
men, Avomen and children, and the Fort Worth 
train swelled the arrivals by fifty more. The 
trains that arrived in the morning and evening 
carried, in all probability, 600 invalids and 
their friends. The arrivals announced that the 
excitement was spreading, and hundreds were 
expected from single communities during the 
last week. "Omaha is worked up wonderfully 
over the cures reported by persons who have 
come to Denver to meet Schlatter,'' said a rail- 
road man from the mouth of the Platte river. 
"I never saw such an excitement as is now in 
that city. Eveiybody is talking of the Healer, 
and people vv ho return after being treated talk 
for days before the curiosity is satisfied. We 
know that Schlatter can cure, for he has cured 
Superintendent Sutherland and many more 
I'ailroad men. We have been directed to return 



The Healer. 95 

to Omaha as soon as possible, in order that 
others may come.^' AThen the crowd left 
Omaha it numbered 150, but accessions were 
made at North Platte, Grand Island, Sidnej^, 
Cheyenne and other stations, which showed 
that the fever spread all over the Union Pa- 
cific system. The movement was the result of 
an order posted by General Manager E. Dick- 
inson, in which he stated that any em- 
ployee of the system suffering from phys- 
ical ailment was at libert.y to come to 
Denver. Passes were issued as fast as 
called for, and the arrivals stated that this 
influx was only the advance guard of a much 
greater army that v>'as to follow as fast as the 
men could be relieved from duty. There were 
some pathetic scenes as the great crowds 
moved through the Union depot. Able-bodied 
men tenderly carried in their arms the invalids 
of the family, and tottering steps were sup- 
ported by strong hands. One case was espe- 
cially noticeable. The patient was held in the 
arms of her cousin, a sturdy farmer, who came 
all the way from Clayton, New Mexico, as at- 
tendant upon the woman, who appeared shriv- 
eled and bent almost out of human shape from 
rheumatism. The man carried the woman as 



96 Francis Schlatter 

though she were a baby, and quickly disap- 
peared in a carriage with his charge. Others 
were supported on crutches, and many were 
so weak from the long journey by rail that they 
were obliged to rest in the depot before pro- 
ceeding to a lodging place. 

^^The depot has been a hospital ever since 
Schlatter began his work in Denver/' re- 
marked an observer. ^'This morning the 
benches were filled with cripples, and I see a 
new contingent has put in an appearance. 
Well, I am not kicking. Schlatter has made 
nothing out of it, and he has certainly relieved 
a large amount of pain since he reached this 
citj^" 

The visitors soon disappeared up Seven- 
teenth street. The great majority sought the 
cheaper lodging houses and left orders to be 
called before daylight. The list of arrivals in- 
cluded conductors, engineers, brakemen, shop- 
men, clerks of department headquarters, and 
quite a number of section men took advantage 
of the remarkable notice of the general man- 
ager. Many of the employees, to all appear- 
ances, were in good health, but it was stated 
that every person was in some way afflicted, 
even though it did not present an outward ap- 



The Healer. 97 

pearance. From the promptness with which 
many of the strangers started for hotels, it was 
evident that they learned en route where to 
find the class of house desired. The Faith of 
General Manager Dickinson in the Healer was 
shown by the presence of Mrs. Dickinson in 
the city. Mrs. Dickinson arrived in a special 
car early in the morning, and was treated by 
Francis before 9 o'clock. Owing to the fact 
that she was almost an invalid, she was given 
a position near the head of the line and was 
obliged to wait only a few minutes. It was 
said that she was afflicted with deafness, and it 
was largely on this account that she came to 
Denver. She was accompanied by several lady 
friends, and left the city immediately after re- 
turning to the depot from North Denver. The 
order of the general manager of the great rail- 
way system brought forth general comment 
when it became known. It was acknowledged 
that no general manager ever before extended 
such an opportunity to the employees of a rail- 
way. The opinion Avas that Mr. Dickinson had 
been profoundly impressed by the cures ef- 
fected by the Healer. 

Eailroad men regarded Francis with general 
favor ever since his advent in Denver, and no 



98 Francis Schlatteb 

class received greater benefit. The railroad 
companies took in thousands of dollars on ac- 
count of travel attracted by Schlatter, and 
lines that extend as far as San Francisco and 
New York were gainers by the presence of the 
Healer in Colorado. For some reason Francis 
was especially accommodating to railway em- 
ployees, and was at that time giving treatment 
to several railroad men who were deeply af- 
flicted and could not stand in line. One of the 
men was blind, and the other was one of the 
best-known officials in the city. The majority 
of the railway fraternity were ready to swear 
by Schlatter, and the number was by no means 
confined to men of ordinary salaries. 

On the 12th of November, 1895, the crowds 
were immense and showed signs of still in- 
creasing. It was a tremendous strain on Fran- 
cis, apparently, and he treated the crovf d at the 
rate of forty -five a minute. Fully 2,700 people 
grasped the Healer's hand during that memor- 
able day, while a party of church dignitaries 
surveyed the crowds. At 11 o'clock in the 
morning the crowd in front of the residence of 
Mr. Fox was a sight to behold. It began at 
the fence in front of the door, w^here the Healer 
stood, and stretched to the end of the block. 



The Healer. 99 

around the next two sides, and half way down 
the fourth side. This was not in a single line, 
but four or five abreast. All day long the great 
procession moved by the quiet man who had 
formed the objective point of their vigil. All 
day long he took them by the hand, one after 
another, calling down help for their infirmi- 
ties for each one. It was a procession of the 
lame, the halt and the blind, the pale, the fee- 
ble and the emaciated, jostling side by side 
with the curiosity hunter, and with those ap- 
parently in perfect health. The news that 
Francis was to depart from his field of labors 
in Denver, and that his ministrations here 
would soon be over, had spread abroad, and 
the crov/d of lookers-on, attracted by a desire 
to gaze at the man of whom such strange 
things were told, was very great. Carriages 
drove up at frequent intervals ail day, and the 
occupants, usually from the wealthier classes, 
would sit for a time and gaze over the heads of 
the crowd at the Healer's face. No matter 
what the opinions of the on-looker might be, 
the placid features of Francis seemed to pos- 
sess a fascination for every visitor. A party 
of church dignitaries drove up late in the after- 
noon in a handsome equipage, drawn by high- 



100 Francis Schlatter 

stepping steeds. The representatives of the 
church gazed at the crowd with a smile which 
was somewhat patronizing and pitying, but 
they were, nevertheless, astonished at the size 
of the crowd. They had not hitherto credited 
the tales of the numbers who visited the 
Healer, and had openly expressed doubts as to 
his having performed any cures whatever. 
Francis himself looked as fresh as the day he 
began his herculean labors. He seemed 
brighter and stronger and more full of xoower 
than when he began his w^ork in Denver. Mr. 
Fox, however, upon whom, next to Francis, 
the heaviest strain had fallen, looked rather 
worn. He circulated among the crowd a good 
deal and examined into individual cases. Late 
in the afternoon he took a little boy from a car- 
riage and carried him tenderly to the Healer. 
The child, who had a paralyzed hand and arm^ 
laid his head trustingly upon the shoulder of 
his protector, and gave his hand confidingly 
to Francis upon reaching him. 

Between 250 and 300 strangers from Kansas 
and Nebraska w^ere among those treated, and 
their faces were a study as they gazed at the 
man of whom they had heard enough to bring 
them so far. The most salient feature of the 



The Healer. lOl 

day was the number of society people, both in 
line and present as spectators. The trains that 
evening brought in hundreds of people, and 
calls even left at hotel counters for 3 and 4 
o'clock in the morning. The Union Pacific 
train brought in 188 people from Omaha and 
other points, and Lincoln, Nebraska, sent a 
party of forty-six in charge of the Burlington 
representative earlier in the day. 

One of the persons who sounded the praises 
of Francis was Colonel J. K. Keithlay, editor 
of the ^^Eepublican," a paper published at 
Weeping Water, Nebraska. Colonel Keithlay 
arrived in Denver and received three treat- 
ments for deafness. He carried a rubber tube 
when he reached Denver, but he now finds no 
need of the tube, and says he will try to get 
through the line to-day as a finisher to a re- 
markable cure. He was at the Oxford hotel. 

At the Brown Palace hotel several wealthy 
men compared notes. Four of them came to 
Denver to be treated by Francis, and succeeded 
in buying places in the line at |1.50 in each 
case. Four men gave up their tickets at the 
solicitation of the visitors. After they had 
talked over the experiences of the day, the men 
came to the conclusion that they had not done 



102 Francis Schlatteii 

the right thing' to hiij places in the line, when 
persons suffering more than they and without 
money were obliged to take their chances of 
treatment. The four men resolved as a pen- 
ance to go into line and travel along to the 
Healer by slow stages, even though it required 
all day. ^'It isn't fair,'^ said one of them, "for 
a man who has plenty of money to purchase 
anj advantage over the distressed-looking and 
X)ain-stricken women and children who are to 
be seen in tliat line.'' 

The blind conductor, Mr. Ed. Cain, left for 
McCook, Nebraska, to rest, after having re- 
ceived several treatments from the Healer. 
His last words at the depot were: "Boys, I ex- 
pect to see my wife and babies soon. Look out 
for a telegram." The railroad men awaited 
returns from the brave-hearted conductor. 



The Healer. 103 



CHAPTER XI. 



We hereAvith append a few of the many 
cases of cures, some of which are authentic 
and well known, others from a distance. Vv^e 
have had to rely upon others' evidence. 

A most notable case is that of Mrs. Stephen 
Vinot, of this city, who was perfectly help- 
less, suffering greatly from spasms and other 
ailments. She had decided to have performed 
a dangerous surgical or)eration, when the 
Healer came to Denver. Instead, she was 
taken to him and was completely cured. To- 
day she is one of the Healer's most ardent de- 
fenders. 

The wife of the Rev. John Turner, 2045 Cur- 
tis street, who had been bed-ridden a long 
time, suftering with paralysis, was cured, and 
to-day is perfectly v/ell. 

One of the most prominent and highly es- 
teemed citizens of Pueblo, Colorado, is Hon. 
Judge J. W. Kerr, who sounds the praises of 
Francis Schlatter in the highest key of grati- 
tude and will alw^ays appreciate the allevia- 



104 Francis Schlatter 

tion afforded him in his distress. Judge Kerr 
is a very large man and had been a sufferer 
from inflammatory rheumatism. While he 
was in the midst of one of these attacks he 
visited Denver and called to see the Healer 
and received treatment. 

To quote the judge's remarks about the dis- 
ease and the blessing he received from Schlat- 
ter would be very interesting, and they are to 
this effect, viz.: "I suffered so keenly from 
rheumatism that I was often obliged to have 
my feet suspended when in my room at the 
hotels in order to gain relief. The only relief 
seemed to be had in withdrawing the circu- 
lation from the extremities as far as possible. 
In the fall of each year my sufferings were es- 
pecially acute, and when the cool weather 
came I felt all the old premonitions. Through 
a friend of mine in Santa Fe, New Mexico, I 
heard of Francis Schlatter and his wonderful 
work, who was loud in his praises of the 
Healer. When I visited Mr. Fox's house to 
see Francis I suffered so much that Mr. Fox 
(who is also a friend of mine) took compas- 
sion on me and conducted me into his house, 
where I met the Healer. The Healer took 
hold of my hands and gave me a short treat- 



The Healer. 105 

ment. During the treatment I felt no mag- 
netic or electric shock, and as I have looked 
into those subjects I believe I know when 
such a power is exerted. In fact, I have ex- 
perimented in the past and long since dis- 
covered that there is a good deal of magnet- 
ism about me. I do not attempt to explain the 
power of the Healer, but from the minute he 
grasped my hands the pain in my feet de- 
parted, and after nearly a month I can say that 
I have had absolute relief from rheumatic 
pains since I met Schlatter. I have been in 
the mountains since, have been through vio- 
lent snow storms, have been exposed to the 
cold and to extreme changes in temperature, 
but not a twinge have I felt from rheumatism. 
I have a handkerchief which the Healer held 
in his hand and I know of no money that can 
buy that handkerchief.'^ 

Said a young lady: "I was blind. Now I 
can tell the color of your eyes. When I can 
read a paper I will tell you my name and all 
about the blessing this silent man has been to 
me.'' 

A majority of those who w^ere treated by 
Francis did not give their names or addresses, 
but one woman was so joyful over the effects 



106 Francis Schlatter 

of the treatment that she proclaimed her hap- 
piness. She said that for years she had been 
bereft of the use of her arms and limbs, and 
that physicians were unable to help her. She 
submitted to a treatment by Francis and she 
felt splendidly. 

William Norris, an engineer on the Atlan- 
tic and Pacific railroad, in New Mexico, with 
headquarters at Albuquerque, was one of the 
many callers on the Healer. He stated that 
he was treated by Francis at Albuquerque 
several weeks before his arrival in Denver, 
and his eyesight, which was failing, was com- 
pletely restored. 

One of the most conspicuous patients was 
a poor house i^atient, who appeared to be in 
the last stages of consumption. He had to 
be helped into a place in front of the Healer, 
and went av^ay electrified. 

Another remarkable cure was that of a 
stylishly dressed young woman, w^ho wore a 
fortune in diamonds on her fingers. She was 
wasted with disease, and following the treat- 
ment, which consisted of simply laying on of 
hands, she Vv^ept with joy and needed no as- 
sistance in entering a carriage that awaited 



The Healer. 107 

herself and her husband. The couple declined 
to give their names, but they were tourists. 

Cured without drugs or charges, was the 
story related by W. M. Clark, general Eastern 
freight agent of the Missouri Pacific railroad, 
in New York City. 

Mr. Clark, who had at that time completed 
a tour of the Western states, saw Francis in 
Denyer, witnessed some of his cures, and, in 
fact, was cured himself. According to his 
story, he had a bad cough and, just out of curi- 
osity, passed his handkerchief to the Healer. 
Francis blessed it and that night Mr. Clark 
slept with it around his throat, and in the 
morning his cough had entirely disappeared. 
Dozens of similar cases were reported to Mr. 
Clark, who was firmly convinced of the Heal- 
er's wonderful healing powers. 

One of the division superintendents of the 
Union Pacific system, Mr. Sutherland, said he 
was injured in the wreck of his private car 
over three years ago, and since the time of the 
accident suffered a great deal. He had four 
operations performed in the hope of obtaining 
relief, but to no avail. He attended to his du- 
ties, but he could not even move in an office 
chair without suffering much pain in the back, 



108 Francis Schlatter 

and it was an impossibility for him t^ ride in 
an engine without suffering greatly. 

Aside from this, Mr. Sutherland wa^^ deaf. 
After he had returned from Denver he could 
lift a loaded trunk without pain, and a few 
days after rode from Valley to Waterloo on an 
engine without suffering, and his deafness en- 
tirely disappeared. 

The general manager of the Union Pacific 
system, Mr. E. Dickinson, posted an order at 
Omaha, Nebraska, in y/hich he stated that any 
employee of the system, suffering from physical 
ailment, was at liberty to come to Denver at 
the expense of the company. The men were 
also authorized to bring any and all afflicted 
members of the family along, and every age 
and sex was represented in the throng that 
came. 

The daughter of Commissioner P. J. Flynn, 
of the Western Passenger Association, located 
in the Union depot, at Denver, Colorado, was 
cured of diphtheria after a treatment from the 
Healer. 

A Mrs. V. V. Snook suffered greatly from a 
cancer, and was cured of it and was indeed 
happy and well in a short time. 



The Healer. 109 

A prominent military man of Wyoming took 
his 12-year-old daughter, who was blind, from 
birth, in one eye. Colonel Foote was very 
thankful when the little one looked up into the 
exes of her papa and exclaimed: ^'O, I can 
see!" The sight was restored instantly. 

J. D. Connor, of Omaha, had a little girl who 
suffered with asthma from birth. He brought 
his daughter to Denver and returned with her 
a well and hearty girl. The child had suffered 
from infancy. 

The favorite cook in the private car of the 
president of the Denver & Kio Grande railroad 
was afflicted with rheumatism. His fingers 
were doubled up. They were straightened, and 
he said he felt thirty-five years younger. 

For a long time the right hand of Jim Welsh, 
of Colorado Springs, was useless. Soon after 
he was seen shaking hands at the Union depot 
to show^ vfhat the Healer had done for him. 

Among the cures were several cases of paral- 
ysis, one of partial blindness, one of dropsy, 
and another in which the use of the lower 
limbs was restored. In one of these cases the 
cure is attested to by the physician who had 
been treating the patient, and by others. This 
was the most remarkable of them all. A lady 



110 Francis Schlatter 

of Longmont, Colorado, had been suffering 
with an impaired vision and paralysis of the 
right arm. She had worn glasses for five 
years, and her condition was a lamentable one. 
Dr. D. N. Stradley, of Longmont, treated her, 
and was assisted by Drs. Callahan and Bick- 
ford, also of Longmont. The girl came down 
to Denver to visit the Healer. She felt better 
soon after she left here, and when she reached 
home she could see without the use of her 
glasses, and could move her arm as if it had 
never been afflicted. Dr. Stradley, in an issue 
of the Longmont "Times,'^ testified to the cure 
of this girl. He said he did not expect to cure 
her eye trouble, but he did expect to restore 
her the use of her arm. He concluded that she 
is now strong and well, her eyesight restored, 
and her arm free and w^ell. The editor of that 
paper a.dded his testimony to that of the physi- 
cian. He said that he knew that her eyesight 
had been affected and that her arm had been 
paralyzed, but she is now recovered from these 
afflictions. 

"William A. Eoach, of Globeville (near Den- 
ver), threw away his crutches within thirty 
minutes after he had seen the Healer. He was 
thrown from a wagon ten years ago, he ex- 



The Healer. Ill 

plained to a number of people who had gath- 
ered around him. after the cure was effected, 
and lost the use of his lower limbs. He walked 
with difficulty by the use of two crutches, and 
was assisted by friends to the North Side, 
where the Healer was. He felt that he was 
well soon after he left the place, and believes 
that he is thoroughly cured. 

John Do3^1e, of Boulder, Colorado, said he 
was carried to the Healer, suffering from 
j)aralysis in the left side. His entire side was 
useless. He was soon able to walk easily and 
could use both arms. Another surprising cure 
was that of Mrs. Diana Dill, of Denver. She 
said she had dropsy in her feet and limbs, and 
had been treated by three physicians without 
getting any relief. She was in constant pain, 
and during the last five months had been un- 
able to wear shoes on account of the swelling. 
She visited Schlatter, and on the following 
day the swelling had disappeared, there was 
no pain, and she was able to put on her shoes. 

One of those who were attracted from the 
Pacific coast by the fame of the Healer w^as 
James B. Stetson, a capitalist of San Fran- 
cisco. Mr. Stetson's sister was badly affected 
with asthma for many years, and had been try- 



112 Francis Schlatter 

ing the effects of traveling upon her trouble. 
While she was in Boston, Massachusetts, she 
read of the remarkable power claimed for the 
Healer. In the hope that there might be some 
help for his sister, and to leave no possible 
source of relief untried, Mr. Stetson brought 
her to Denver. She was in one of the carriages 
that awaited the pleasure of Francis, while a 
tall and fine-looking man, dressed in the latest 
style, a wonderful contrast to the man all were 
there to see, imi)lored the Healer to see the 
sick woman. He was repulsed by some close to 
Schlatter, who told him that all were treated 
alike, and that the sister must wait. He then 
appealed to Mr. Fox. Later the Healer was 
seated in that elegant carriage. He took the 
hand of the invalid and sat before her for a 
time, and looked into her eyes with that 
strange look that came into his own at times. 
When he left he gave no encouragement. ^^If 
the Father so willed, she will get better; if 
not, she must bear her sufferings as best she 
can.'^ 



The Healer. 113 



CHAPTEB XII. 



The closing scenes around the Fox home- 
stead, on the afternoon of the 12th of No- 
vember were ones never to be forgotten. 
Bids came in from St. Louis, Mound City, 
Omaha, and other cities for the Healer. 
It was the old fight between Chicago and 
the Missouri city. Citizens of the latter 
place made up their minds that Chicago 
should not have Francis Schlatter without a 
struggle, and their accredited delegate was in 
the crowd and authorized to offer Mr. Schlatter 
|5,000 if he would come to St. Louis. The gen- 
tleman was a well-dressed man, with a busi- 
ness-like address, but he was evidently a non- 
plussed man when he found that he had struck 
a place where money did not talk. He refused 
to give his name, for he felt somewhat cha- 
grined at the failure of his enterprise, but he 
stated that the |5,000 was ready for Mr. Schlat- 
ter if he would come to St. Louis, or for any 
person who would induce him to go there. He 
was very much annoyed at not getting an in- 



114 Francis Schlatter 

teryiew with the Healer, and button-holed Mr. 
Fox as soon as he could get through the 
crowd, which was not until the Healer had re- 
tired for the day. "You might just as well 
offer him |5,000,000 as |5,000/^ said Mr, Fox. 
"If he decided to go you wouldn't have to pay 
him anything. The yery quickest way to keep 
him away from your citj is to offer him money 
for going there.'' "Well/' said the agent, insin- 
uatingly, "wouldn't you take the money and 
get him to go there?" 

"Oh, I couldn't get him to go anywhere," 
said Mr. Fox, drily. 

"Well, isn't there anyone in town who would 
take the monej^ and influence him to go to St. 
Louis?" said the man. 

"Guess not, if I couldn't," replied the ex- 
alderman, laconically. 

"What sort of a man is he, anyway?" queried 
the agent explosiyely, "does he think he's too 
good to take money? You can get pretty near 
any minister you want for |5,000." 

"But Schlatter isn't a minister, you see," 
was the reply, while a humorous twinkle lit 
up the North Denyer man's eye. "He doesn't 
need any money; he has no use for it, and you 



The Healee. llS 

can't bribe him or buy him, and I advise you 
not to try it." 

The St. Louis man, if that was his home, 
went away with a baffled and puzzled expres- 
sion upon his countenance. It was evidently 
something new in his experience. He con- 
fessed in his conversation that the scheme vvas 
one of speculation. 

When Mr. Schlatter was informed that 
there was a man outside who had |5,000 in 
his pocket for him if he would go to St. Louis, 
he remarked placidly: ^^I don't want his dol- 
lars,'' and dismissed the subject. 

Omaha was also in the field to secure Fran- 
cis. Omaha, probably more than any other 
city, had been stirred up over the tales of the 
Healer, and the people were wild there to 
have him come. 

J. A. Connor, a prominent grain merchant 
and an active worker in Y. M. C. A. circles 
registered at the Albany yesterday. His mis- 
sion to Denver was to induce Francis to stop 
in Omaha on his v/ay to Chicago. Mr. Con- 
nor was acting for a number of the solid men 
of Omaha, and he remained in town until he 
exhausted every means to induce the Healer 
to change his destination. He was accom- 



116 Fkancis Schlat'Tek 

panied by C. K. Spearman, a banker of Gretna, 
Nebraska, and W. S. Raker, editor of the 
Gretna Rejjorter. Five thousand people took 
Francis by the hand this day. This was the 
heaviest day^s work yet and the crowd was 
much the largest. Even after he retired to 
the honse they could not be induced to leave, 
but stood in solid masses, gazing at the house. 
It was nearly an hour before they finally 
melted away* After it was over Mr. Schlat- 
ter said in conversation that ^^the power was 
very strong all day and his neck felt tired.'' 

^^Why is that?'' was asked him. 

^^Vvhy," said Francis, ^^you know the powder 
comes through here, — touching his fore- 
head— ^^and passes down through my neck." 

One of the most remarkable cures of the 
entire record of the Healer's stay in Denver 
occurred on this day. The subject was J. P. 
Handy^ of Ellsworth, Kansas. Mr. Handy 
brought a letter of introduction to E. P. Mil- 
ler, whose office is in the Opera House block, 
from Mr. Miller's son, who lives in Kansas 
and knows Mr. Handy well. Mr. Handy had 
been a sufferer from rheumatism for a long 
time, and had been unable to walk without 
crutches for a long time. He passed through 



^l^HE Healed. 117 

the line with his wife and received a treat- 
ment. Immediately on getting through the 
crowd that packed the space in front of the 
Healer he felt his hands relax^ as he expressed 
it, "like a hand opening.^' He took his crutches 
from under his arm and walked about without 
them all the rest of the day. Hundreds say/ 
this and can testify to the instantaneous cure. 
But few of those, how^ever, who saw him dis- 
card his crutches knew that Mr. Handy had 
several hard lumps or sw^ellings on the palms 
of his hands. These had been on his hands for 
many a long day, and Mr. Handy thought they 
were caused by the excessive pain he had en- 
dured. They were gone twenty minutes after 
he had touched the Healer^s hand. 

During the last few days of his stay in Den- 
ver, detectives were employed to prevent the 
selling of places in line. 

On the morning of the disappearance of the 
Healer, the bulk of the visitors stood at the 
spot v/here they were wont to grasp the man's 
hand, and not a few put their hands through 
the fence and held them there a few seconds, 
as if they could feel the presence of the mys- 
terious powder. 



118 Francis Schlatter 

At no time did tlie crowd reach very large 
proportions, but the people came, as before, by 
every form of conveyance. Almost all day 
there were one or two carriages out in the 
street, and many of the occupants vvere drawn 
to the vicinity out of curiosity as well as to 
get into the presence of the power which was 
said to linger after the departure of the 
strange being, through which it was directed 
tow^ard mankind. Early that morning it be- 
came apparent that there was a scarcity of 
kindling wood in North Denver. The long 
railing which had been erected to contain the 
crowds began to disappear, stick by stick. 
What was left by 10 o'clock Mr. Fox had taken 
down and placed in his yard, where he de- 
voted it to his own use. 

There was a serious side to the disappear- 
ance of Francis. Hundreds of people who 
came to Denver and had not seen the Healer 
walked the streets as if in hope of his sud- 
den return. They could not convince them- 
selves that their journey was in vain, and did 
not want to leave for home until every hope 
of seeing the Healer was gone. Some of the 
cases were indeed pitiful, but most of them 
had taken the precaution of sending a hand- 



The Healee. 119 

kerchief hj mail, and they had that hope to 
buoy them. 

It certainly appeared that the Ruler of the 
universe sent to this earth the only true apos- 
tle in the personage of ^'The New Mexican Mes- 
siah," and who, by his miraculous cures, as 
the Saviour said, ^^By my works thou shalt 
know me." The Healer, by his works, showed 
the world that he is the true Messiah, who 
came in obedience to the will of the Father 
to make the blind to see, the deaf to hear, to 
heal the infirm and to teach them the vv^ord of 
God. Francis did not receive any of this 
v/orid's filthy lucre, although it has been of- 
fered him, but always refused it, saying: 
^^That it was against the will of his Master," 

In New Mexico, at Albuquerque, on more 
than one occasion, money v\^as forced on him, 
when he at once distributed it to the poor and 
needy, retaining nothing for himself. Many 
of the cures effected through the Healer are 
certainly not effected by himself but by our 
Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. 

The sudden disappearance of the Healer 
was quite unexpected, but it was the only 
means he had to get away from the multitude. 
His whereabouts was a matter of conjecture 



120 J^BANdlS SOHLATfER 

and no one knew positively where the Healer 
had gone until he was seen passing through 
Elizabeth^ Colorado, mounted on a white horse. 
It was at this point that the missing Messiah 
was located early on the morning of the 15th 
of November. Francis was riding a fine gray 
horse, caparisoned with a brand new saddle. 
There w^as the beard and the wavy hair, which 
had become familiar to all who had visited the 
Healer and to those who have seen his pic- 
tures. In personal apparel, however, the 
strange man was much changed. He wore 
a bright new v/oolen hat, brown duck coat, 
shoes without heels. Strapped on the horse 
was a large pack of bedding. This huge bun- 
dle was behind the saddle and was covered 
with a new white canvas. 

On the afternoon of the evening he left, a 
stranger, who gave his name as Scott, ap- 
peared in the line and introduced himself to the 
Healer. He said he had met the Healer in the 
Mojave desert, two years before, and had given 
him 50 cents with which to buy food at the 
next station. Francis recognized the man and 
warmly invited him to call in the evening. 
Mr. Scott called, and brought with him a dozen 
of his friends. The Healer was somewhat sur- 



^HE Heales. 121 

prised at the number of visitors, but appeared 
in the best of spirits during the call. The 
party left before 9 o'clock, with many well 
wishes for the Healer. 

TVhether the Scott call had anything to do 
with his leaving, is not known. Mr. Fox said: 
"While I do not understand this movement of 
Schlatter, my Faith in him is not in the slight- 
est degree impaired. I know he was deeply 
disturbed by the bartering of places in line, 
and it is possible that he thought of the mat- 
ter after retiring that night, and left the city 
in order to avoid the continuance of the prac- 
tice. The criticism of the preachers and the 
selling of places in the line were two points 
upon which Schlatter was esi)ecially sensitive. 
Thai day the barter all along the line grew to 
such proportions that it reached his ears sev- 
eral times. He was deeply annoyed, and I 
feared that he v/ould retire into the house be- 
cause of the reports that v/ere in circulation as 
to prices at which the places were sold. He 
said nothing on the subject during the even- 
ing. He was so busily engaged until he retired 
for the night that there was little opportunity 
for him to talk. So far as I can see, there was 
no other reason for him to leave Denver.'^ 



122 Francis ScHLATtE:^ 

One of the rumors that gained some cre- 
dence was that Francis was to be arrested. 
Such was not the case, and I herewith append 
an interview from the ^^News'' in relation to it: 

^•Francis Schlatter y/as not wanted by the 
federal authorities^ and they did not issue any 
attachment from the United States court. 
They made no attempts to ascertain the vfhere- 
abouts of the Healer. Technically, the miss- 
ing man might be held for contempt of court 
in not appearing as a witness in the case then 
pending before United States Commissioner 
Capron. Francis was not inyolved in any w^ay 
in the outcome, as he vv^as not made defend- 
ant. He was wanted as a witness on the point 
as to whether he really ^blessed' the handker- 
chiefs which defendants are charged by Post- 
office Inspector McMechen with using the 
mails to fraudulent!}^ disj)ose of. The return 
of United States Marshal Israel, on file in the 
district attorney's office, shoy/ed that Francis 
was served with the subpoena to ai)pear on 
Thursday morning (the morning of his disap- 
pearance). The writ w^as read to him, but it 
did not appear that any copy of the same was 
left with him. The probability w^as, that as 
the marshal simply told him of the contents 



The Healer. 123 

of the paper, that Francis paid little attention 
to the matter, and the fact that he was wanted 
in the commissioner's court on the day he dis- 
appeared may have escaped the Healer's mem- 
ory altogether. No formal application was 
made for an attachment for Francis, and if it 
were Judge Hallett would not have granted it. 
When he was spoken to on the subject by court 
officials, the judge remarked: ^I do not think it 
is a case where an attachment should issue.' 
" ^We do not care particularly as to whether 
Schlatter is found or not,' said United States 
District Attorney Johnson. ^If he had been 
sworn he would have testified that he did not 
^"bless" the handkerchiefs in question. There 
is nothing strange about the method of his dis- 
appearance. He is the kind of a man who 
would be far more apt to leave on foot in the 
night time than go on the cars, if the oppor- 
tunity were offered him to go by the usual 
traveled route. The government will not at- 
tempt to locate him.' In the talk which the 
district attorney had with Francis, the Healer 
told him his position in relation to Faith. ^If 
men vdsh to believe in creation rather than the 
Creator,^ said Francis, ^the Father lets them go 
that way. But if they will have Faith in the 



124 Francis Schlatter 

Creator Himself, He will cure all their ills.^ 
Francis said that the Father did it all, and that 
people should not thank him for cures ef- 
fected. The case in which Francis was wanted 
as a witness was adjourned until the follow- 
ing morningj with the idea that the govern- 
ment would secure his attendance by bench 
warrant. As this course was not pursued, 
the prosecution was dismissed and defendants 
were discharged." 

The only message he left was the following: 

"Mr. Fox — My mission is finished. Father 
takes me away. Good-bye. 

"FRANCIS SCHLATTER. 
"November 13.'^ 

And thus ended in Denver the mission of a 
man whom, to all outward appearances, was 
of God. 



The Healer. 125 

FRANCIS SCHLATTER. 

Beautiful spirit, sent clown to our earth 
To gladden the hearts of some by thy birth ; 
Let thy light shine in splendor and glory, 
Christ-like and grand, as is writ in the story. 

Beautiful angel from the spiritual world, 
Out to the millions thy banner unfurled, 
Attracting their souls from death and from 

sin, 
To crucified Jesus, our Lover and King. 

Go forth to the homeless, by poverty stricken. 
Untaught in the love that leads to the heaven. 
Save them from, sickness and sorrows untold, 
Enlist them as soldiers of Christ's beautiful 
fold. 

God bless thy mission, thy powers increase 
In works of healing, never to cease. 
To the lowly and ignorant hold forth thy light, 
Guide them safely through life's perilous night. 

Sin, sorrow and selfishness soon will decay — 
We hail thee as beacon light of a new day, 
When millions of souls will arise in their might 
And enlist for the teachings of Christ and the 
right, 



126 Francis Schlatter 



CHAPTER XIII. 



"Modern Miracles^^ was the subject chosen 
by Eey. Myron W. Eeed for his sermon in the 
Broadway theater one Sunday morning. A 
great audience was present, and the gifted 
speaker proved fully equal to the occasion. 
Mr. Keed declared warmly in favor of the New 
Mexican Messiah. He chose his text from 
Isaiah xi., 28: "Hast thou not known? Hast 
thou not heard that the everlasting God, the 
Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, faint- 
eth not, neither is weary? There is no search- 
ing of His understanding." 

He said: 

"Mr. Hume, in his famous essay, says that 
miracles are contrary to experience, and so dis- 
poses of miracles. It is easy to grant that they 
are contrary to the experience of Mr. Hume, 
probably contrary to the experience of his 
neighbors. But it is possible to believe that 
things have happened outside the experience of 
Mr. Hume, outside the experience of Mr. 
Hume's neighbors. As a boy I saw the plant- 



The Healer. 127 

ing of telegraph poles and the stringing of the 
wire. The old keeper of the village tavern and 
I listened to the singing of the wire in the 
wind. In a low, awe-struck voice, he explained 
the sound to me. ^My son, do you hear that? 
They are transveying news.^ 

"If by the word ^miracle^ a man means some- 
thing in violation of the laws of the universe, 
or something that interferes with them, then 
I say ^miracles do not happen.^ 

"It is possible that w^e are not altogether ac- 
quainted with the laws of the universe. Some- 
thing may hapj)en according to lav/ outside our 
knowledge. It is old, but interesting to re- 
member that the first ship driven by steam 
that crossed the Atlantic had on board an 
able essay proving that it could not be done. 
It is onl}^ a little vv^hile ago that an electric car 
did not seem to be electric. The passenger 
held on to his nickel to save it if the thing 
balked. 

NOT A MATEKIAL THING. 

"A mother in Ireland cables a message to 
her daughter in New York. Under the ocean 
that message has no body; it is no more a ma- 
terial thins: than a flash of lisrhtnin^. It 



128 Francis Schlatter 

crosses. The Atlantic cannot wreck it; it ar- 
rives. It is possible and probable that the mes- 
sage can cross without the wire. Friends are 
able to shoot their thoughts from one to the 
other; all that is necessary to perfect the abil- 
ity is practice. Although up to date, I have 
more confidence in the Western Union. 

"Every year of the last fifty years has 
brought something to light not contrary to ex- 
perience, to outside experience. 

"But miracles are an old fashion. I picked 
up the life and works of Elijah and Elisha 
last night and re-read the story. It is not w^on- 
derful that men of that kind should do works 
of that kind. Their works are in the same 
great style as themselves. It is not wonderful 
that Shakespeare has written Hamlet. Given 
Shakespeare, the play of Hamlet is what you 
expect of him. Elijah comes out of the canons 
of Gilead. Of his birth and childhood we know 
nothing. When w^e first see him he is a man 
dressed in a rawhide kilt and a sheepskin man- 
tle, and he proceeds at once to make himself 
disagreeable to a king and queen and the ec- 
clesiastical machine of the time. He did some 
notable miracles, called down fire from hea- 
ven, fire that burned water. He was an un- 



The Healer. 129 

equal man. One day he was more than enough 
for several hundred priests of Baal, and one 
day he was in mortal fear of one woman, flung 
himself under a juniper tree and wished that 
he were even dead. God was good to him, 
l)ut him to sleep and fed him. And in the 
strength of the reinforcement of that sleep and 
that breakfast, he marched forty days to Ho- 
reb, the mount of God. Reading the lines of 
the miracle workers as written in the Bible, I 
find that they did not hold their gift in abso- 
lute continuing possession. It was not their 
property. They could not do anything of them- 
selves. The minute they depended upon them- 
selves they broke down. 

WAS DONE "IN HIS NAME.^' 

"Whatever good and great thing they did, 
they did it in the name of God. ^In His name' 
seems to be the faithful formula of the apos- 
tles. They make sorry work of it when they 
attempt anything alone. St. Paul could heal 
the sick sometimes. Even handkerchiefs that 
he had touched carried health in them some- 
times. But we read that he left his friend and 



130 Francis Schlatter 

comrade, Timothy, sick at a certain place. If 
he could have cured him doubtless he would. 
For some good reason sickness was good for 
Timothy. He was to work among people, sick 
people, sinful and sorry people. One who has 
never been sick makes a wretched nurse. He 
will sit down by the bedside of the sufferer 
and read a newspaper and chew gum and slide 
down into a healthy slumber, like a well in- 
fant. Curing others, St. Paul could not cure 
himself. He was subject to some kind of phys- 
ical torment, probably some trouble with his 
eyes. All the old prophets and saints were 
made to know that they were absolutely de- 
pendent on God. Wheneyer they became self- 
conceited and self-sufficient they went to pieces 
like Peter on the sea, like Peter on the porch. 

^^Elijah, about to die, saw Elisha plowing and 
went to him and cast his sheepskin mantle over 
him and left him to carry on his work. We 
know little or nothing of the childhood of 
Elisha. He came when he was called. He 
did not have to be spoken to but once. He had 
intuition, he was a natural man, unspoiled by 
civilization. He did miracles. A boy, the son 
of his friend, was sunstruck in the harvest 
field. She sent for the prophet and he came, 



The Healer. 131 

but the boy was dead, but he went into the 
room, shut the door and stretched himself 
upon the child, mouth to mouth, eyes to eyes, 
hands to hands, and the child grew warm and 
the child opened his eyes. Before Elisha did 
this ^he prayed unto the Lord/ Here is com- 
plete self-surrender. 

WHY NOT RAISE ALL THE DEAD? 

^^But some men will say, why not raise all 
the dead? It is not expedient. I should think 
twice and a long time both times before I 
would call any one back who has gone away. 
I believe death is a promotion, an incident of 
life. 

^^The chief of the apostles says, ^death is 
gain.' For a sufficient reason our Lord called 
Lazarus back from the other side of death. 
There was a public reason for it. But per- 
sonally, for Lazarus, it was a coming back to 
be questioned concerning things he had no 
words for. The men who hated Jesus hated 
him; they went about to kill him. It was a 
coming back to dust and weariness, to Ham- 
let's ^sea of trouble.' 



132 Francis Schlatter 

"The miracles of the Bible were not wrought 
as shows, simply to excite wonder and please 
a mob of the curious. There is sufficient rea- 
son for them. Some of them are in answer 
to Faith that Faith may be encouraged. Some 
are in answer to little Faith that little Faith 
may grow. Some are wrought where there 
is no Faith that Faith may come. All suf- 
fering and loss and failure are to lead men to 
God. We are led and we are driven. We are 
met more than half way. One way or another 
w^e are going to be made to think. I was al- 
ways half sorry for the issue at Waterloo, but 
I have no doubt that personally, St. Helena 
was good for Napoleon. No more campaigns 
to plan, no more battles to fight, no noise but 
the noise of the sea. Flags and drums and 
the voices of cannon are a powerful diversion. 
Failure along a mistaken road is a good thing. 
Men must be made to think. I have not much 
confidence in sermons, but I have in the events 
of life. 

"There is no God, the foolish saith, 

But none there is no sorrow; 
And nature oft the cry of Faith 
In bitter need will borrow. 



The Healer. 133 

"Eyes that the preacher could not school 

By wayside graves are raised, 
And lips say, God be pitiful 

That ne'er said, God be praised. 

"When it comes to me I see no use in pain, 
when it comes to other people I see uses for it. 

"Not all Syria was made healthy in the days 
of Jesus Christ. In one place he could not do 
mighty w^orks because of unbelief. The peo- 
ple would not let Him in. 

"The world is divided into two kinds of peo- 
ple, those who do something and those who 
sit on the fence and wonder why they don't 
do it the other way. There are vastly more 
critics than authors. Naaman, the Syrian, 
had leprosy of the old white kind, and the 
prophet told him to wash in the Jordan seven 
times, and he thought of the bigger rivers 
nearer by, and hj the side of which Jordan 
was an insignificant creek, and went away in 
a rage. But his kind of leprosy was fatal, and 
death was near and he did as he was told, ^and 
his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a 
little child, and he was clean.' 

"No prophet has told him to do it, but I 
understand that the president of ^the light of 



134 Francis Sghlati-er 

the world company' is going to bathe in the 
Jordan. All the prophets have told him to 
do something else. 

BEST BREASTWORK. 

"After all our work on forts with walls of 
stone and iron, after all our Gibraltars and 
Quebees, there is no breastwork against bullet 
and ball and shell so effective as a bank of 
plain simple ^^arth. There is a singular power 
in simplicity. TJoquence/ says Mr. Ingersoll, 
^is not up among the stars, it is down in the 
grass/ The old prophets dressed roughly. 
Low living and high thinking have commonly 
gone together. We shall remember Robert 
Burns several days after we have forgotten 
Chauncey Depew. 

"There was a man sent from God whose 
name was John. He dressed roughly as Eli- 
jah, he lived on locusts and wild honey and 
came out of the Vvilderness. And some said 
he had a devil. You remember the various 
names that greeted Jesus, It may be doubted 
that a man has lived a true, brave life unless 
he has been in jail. The jail in history has 
had the same transformation in degree as the 



The Heaj.er. 135 

cross. A man in jail in Woodstock, Illinois, 
for the past few months has been in first-rate 
company. There is good company in there yet. 
^The Bible is a book of expectation; there 
is a movement in it. However sorrov/fully it 
begins it ends with a song. All creation finally 
sings. It is a book of hope. Finally ^hard times 
come again no more.' The i^romises of God do 
not taper off and become more and peaked 
as the centuries go by. They broaden. There 
is an increasing j)urpose. ^The thoughts of 
men are widened in the process of the song.' 
''Hast thou not heard that the everlasting God 
lainteth not, neither is weary?' 

"We may not climb the heavenly steps- 

To bring the Lord Christ down; 
In vain vv^e search the lowest depths, 

For Him no depths can drown. 
"Xo fable old, nor mythic lore, 

Xor dream of bards and seers, 
No dead fact stranded on the shore 

Of the oblivious years. 
"But warm, sweet, tender, even yet 

A present help is He; 
And Faith has still its Olivet 

And Love its Galilee. 



136 Francis Schlattj:k 

"That is Whittier. Isaiah and Whittier 
agree that God is not getting feeble. The book 
of Isaiah is full of visions of what is to come. 
So is the book of Tennyson. All are to know 
the Lord. Many haye postponed these fulfill- 
ments to a place called Heaven. There is no 
reason why that I know of. There is nothing 
the matter with the sunrise or sunset. I am 
satisfied with the mountains and I am satis- 
fied with the sea. The earth is a good enough 
stage for the plays of Isaiah and even of St. 
John. 

"I expect much from these closing years of 
this century. The last years of the eighteenth 
were eventful. An anonymous friend asked 
me to read the first chapter of Charles Dick- 
ens' ^Tale of Two Cities.' The times now are 
as full of signs as the times were full of signs 
then. Here is a picture of the period before 
the revelation that, as Thomas Carlyle says, 
^let kings know that there was a joint in their 
necks:' 

" ^It was the best of times, it was the worst 
times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the 
age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it 
was the epoch of incredulity, it was the sea- 
son of light, it was the season of darkness, it 



The Healer. 137 

was the spring of hope, it was the winter of 
despair, we had everything before us, we had 
nothing before us, we were all going direct 
to heaven, we were all going direct the other 
way. In England and France it was clearer 
than crystal to the lords of the state preserves 
of loaves and fishes that things in general 
were settled for ever. 

"^It was the year of our Lord, 1775. 
Spiritual revelations were conceded to Eng- 
land at that favored period. Daring burglar- 
ies by armed men and highway robberies took 
place in London every night' There is much 
more of it, and all thoughtful writing. 

^^These days are as those days. We are told 
that the harvest is abundant, that the hero of 
Homestead has raised wages, that Atkinson 
has invented a workingman's salvation stove. 
We hear also of hunger and now and then of 
starvation and often suicide. I am not going 
into statistics of prosperity and of misery. It 
is the best of times and it is the worst of 
times. Things are getting ready for a change 
by and by, and soon the people will have suf- 
fered enough. They at last are beginning to 
think and soon they will begin to do. We are 
not going back to kings, we are going on to 



138 Francis Sghlatter 

equal freedom, equality of opportunity, special 
privileges to none. 

^^Men are rapidly coming to themselves. We 
have seen what man has done with material 
things in the last sixty years. We are now to 
see what he can do with mental things, with, 
if you please, spiritual things. Man is being 
revealed to himself. He has been working on 
things outside himself, on wood and steel and 
steam and lightning. He is now turning his 
attention to the undiscovered powers and fac- 
ulties and privileges of his own soul. I re- 
member Olney's atlas. I studied it forty years 
ago. Vast regions were marked ^unknown.' 
They are known now. In the map of a man 
much is marked ^unknown.' The best in us 
is weak and almost dead for lack of exercise. 
It is just beginning to dawn on a good many 
of us that to get on in life, to make money, 
or position, or power of a vulgar sort, that this 
is not the chief end of living. We begin to 
see that there is something real and substan- 
tial and eternal in the life of Jesus Christ, 
There has never been a time in the history of 
the race when so many people were dissatis- 
fied with the things that are seen. There are 
many meetings of more than two or three met 



The Healer. 141 

together reverently to explain the unknown 
country of the mind and of the spirit. We are 
in earnest to find out what we are and what 
we can do. 

SCHLATTER'S PATH NOT EASY. 

^^I have been much interested the past week 
in the spectacle over the bridge— in the peo- 
ple gathered together to take the hand of a 
man who seemed to be absolutely willing to 
be used as God pleases. He v/ill not be paid 
and will not be thanked. He says, ^Thank the 
Father.^ I have read of Joan of Arc. A girl 
of 19, a peasant, educated to spin and take 
care of sheep. Walking in the garden she 
heard ^beautiful voices.' You knov/ her great 
story. Until her work was finished alw^ays 
she heard the beautiful voices in ^Child of 
God, go on, go on!' and she obeyed. I have 
listened to this man. It does not appear that 
he chose this work; it appears that he was 
chosen for it. Long he argued with himself 
for and against strict obedience to the voice 
he heard. It has not been an easy path he 
has trod from Denver to the Pacific and back 
again, depending always on what is to him the 



142 Fbancis Schlatter 

voice of the Father. This man has walked 
across deserts and over mountains, slept in 
rain and sleet and snow, asked for food when 
told to ask for it, gone without when told to 
go without. I talked with a locomotive en- 
gineer who on his trips often passed him. He 
said: ^If I could have found him at a station 
I would have taken him aboard and paid his 
fare. But as it happened, I always saw him 
between stations.^ But you here have read 
the main incidents of the later life of this 
man. I do not wonder that people go to get 
help from him. I believe that he has observed 
the conditions of power. He has taken no 
care of himself. He has gone where he be- 
lieves he was sent. He has done what he be- 
lieves he was told to do. He is the only man 
of the kind and degree that I ever saw. If 
the people cannot get good from God through 
him I do not know why. He has conformed. 
It is the most literal folio v/ing of Jesus Christ 
that I have ever known. It v/as to be expected 
that he would be treated harshly. Some peo- 
ple have fully met the expectation, A dis- 
tinguished clergyman of this city, who is apt 
to say bright things, is reported to have said 
that the reason that the clergy did not in- 



H 

O 





The Healer. 145 

dorse the man was because if they did the 
people would expect them to do what he is 
doing, and they don't know how. 

"This man has made me ashamed of my easy 
way of taking hold of my work. He has 
helped me morally. The day after I met him I 
took hold of a disagreeable, painstaking job 
that but for the interview I should certainly 
have declined. I have a strong dislike to the 
disagreeable. He has cured me of that. 

"I shall present no statistics as to cures ac- 
complished. That is not my point to-day. The 
point is this: We read the Bible; we read there 
of the sick cured by men who were obedient to 
God as they understood Him ; we read of con- 
ditions of power not limited to any country or 
years. Let any man, any time or anywhere, 
conform to the hard, self-denying, painful con- 
ditions, and God, through him, will do His 
w^ork. As I have suggested, there may be 
many who will be compelled to suffer a while 
longer. As our mild visitor says, ^They will 
suffer until they think it will be as the Father 
pleases.' He is doing good here; he is calling 
our attention to the fact that the center and 
source of all life is God; not a God who a long 
time ago filled a cistern and then went away, 



146 Fkancis Schlatter 

but God, a free-flowing spring, a ^present help 
in every time of need' — Immanuel! ^God with 
us/ 

HE IS DOING GOOD. 

"He is doing good, as he is lifting our minds 
and our eyes from the earth. There is a larger 
thing than real estate. I have been over this 
scene often. I see there the people v/ho need 
help, old and young, all sorts and conditions, 
women with babies, and this comes to me — 
the scene suggests the lines: 

^* ^The Master has come over Jordan, 

Said Hannah, the mother, one day; 
He is healing the people that throng Him 

With a touch of His finger, they say. 
So now I shall carry the children — 

Little Rachel and Samuel and John, 
And dear little Esther, the baby. 

For the Master to look upon.' 

"Once in our lives we have an opportunity 
to see a man who does not take care of himself. 
He has lost himself in his work. 

"I look at this pathetic figure emerged from 
the desert, and I mentally contrast him with 
some soft soldier of the cross who reads a ser- 
monette and then says : ^I am prostrated.' He 



■^-fl 



\ 
.\^- 



r 






^ 



^ *"^J 




Crippled Lady just after Treatme^^t. 



The Healer. 149 

don't say tired; that wouldn't use up the al- 
phabet fast enough. ^Take up your cross and 
follow Me/ says the Master. Many a time I 
have dodged that commandment. 

"This man will help us to be brave." 

The following is an open letter, written in 
reply to a criticism of the Key. G. L. Morrill, 
pastor of Calvary Baptist Church, Denver: 
To the Eev. G. L. Morrill: 

The coming of Mr. Schlatter has turned the 
thoughts of many into the paths of a religious 
investigation vfho otherwise v/ould have con- 
tinued to rest in material thoughts, and this 
is true notwithstanding your declaration that 
his coming has caused Christ to be carica- 
tured, the Bible belittled, the spirit slighted, 
infidelity increased and religion retarded. This 
thought will continue and bear its good fruit, 
notwithstanding oratorical frothings of cer- 
tain orthodox ministers. 

Mr. Schlatter's advent was without show or 
display, peaceable and quiet, "with malice 
toward none and charity for all,'' yet you find 
fault that he, smarting under the cruel thrusts 
of the orthodox pulpit, uttered a mild rebuke 
against those who barter and trade in the sanc- 
tuary of the Lord and claim a mortgage upon 

^9 



150 Francis Schlatter 

the soul of man ^^from the cradle to the grave'^ 
for the advancement of their particular creed 
or dogma. Do you forget that, in far more sav- 
age terms, Christ rebuked the wealthy minis- 
ters of the Pharisee church of his day, and the 
man who "beholdest the mote in his brother's 
eye, but considerest not the beam in his own 
eyer^ 

Your attack on Mr. Schlatter seems to my 
mind more in the nature of an attack on his 
claim that a life of devotion to God and His 
work and earnest prayer has brought to him a 
spiritual power. And in meeting his claim you 
rest satisfied in the utterance of a few cheap 
jokes and flippant conclusions, more fitted to 
a political rostrum than the sacred precincts 
of the sanctuary, and a few choice epithets, 
such as "imposter,'' "insane,'' "ignorant," 
"blasphemer," etc., etc., as a fitting conclusion 
to your discourse. These are the weapons of a 
weak cause. 

Jesus was looked upon by the world as an 
imposter, and was adjudged guilty of blas- 
phemy by the church of those times, and cru- 
cified. John the Baptist was adjudged a bab- 
bling lunatic, cast into prison and beheaded 
in order to stop his alleged insane utterances, 



The Healer, 151 

You call Mr. Schlatter ignorant and say he 
has no inclination to read and study, and thus 
ignores the scriptures, for it is written, "that 
man be without knowledge is not good.'' If 
you mean he is without worldly knowledge, he 
has his excuse for such deficiency in the scrip- 
tures, for it is said, "For the wisdom of this 
world is foolishness with God, for it is written, 
He taketh the wise in their own craftiness.'' 
And can you point to any portion of the teach- 
ings where it is held the duty of man to seek 
Avorldly wisdom? Does not the whole secret 
doctrine go to establish the fact that "to know 
God and keep His law is the whole duty of 
man?" Were the twelve taken from the ex- 
perts in worldly wisdom or from the fisher- 
man's net? 

Again, you say: "Mr. Schlatter a few years 
since denied and disavowed God, but now pro- 
fesses to heal the sick in His name." Is it 
j)ossible you have also forgotten the character 
of Paul on the way to Tarsus, the chief of sin- 
ners and blasphemers, as Paul himself testi- 
fies, bent upon destroying the followers of his 
Christ? And do you not know that if the gos- 
pel was deprived of the interpretation of his 



152 Francis Schlatter 

inspired pen, that there would "be far more ex- 
cuse for our groping about in darkness , in 
search of "the straight and narrow path?'^ 
And did not Jesus and Peter and James and 
Paul silently steal away in the night time when 
the persecution of their enemies retarded their 
work, and have you not spoken of their flight 
in burning words of pathos from the same pul- 
l}it from which you denounce a lowly follower 
of the Nazarene, and advocate that the "hounds 
of the law^^ be put on his tracks, that he may 
be brought back and whipped of human jus- 
tice? 

However, my brother, the personality of Mr. 
Schlatter in the controversy his presence has 
engendered is of small importance, and is of 
little moment to you and me, -and you mistake 
the question if you think so. The question is. 
Shall they who believe on Christ and under- 
stand His law and keep it receive the spiritual 
power promised in St. John iv., 12, or is this 
promise a hollow mockery, and is a soul of 
gentleness, goodness, Faith, meekness, tem- 
perance and brotherly love, subordinate to and 
at the mercy of the "flesh,'^ the errors of the 
human mind, which Christ said "is a liar fvoxa 
the beginning and the father of it?^^ 



The Healer. 153 

You occupy the exalted position of spiritual 
adviser to a portion of the community. We 
have a right to expect those in your calling to 
point out with unerring finger the "straight 
and narrow way.'^ Yea, more ; we have a right 
to demand that all such shall remove them- 
selves from human prejudice, bias, passion, 
dogmas and man-made creeds, and, placing 
the heel of truth upon the material serpent, 
rise into the pure realm of spirit as far as the 
imprisoned soul may, and then answer the in- 
quiries of the wayfaring brother in the spirit of 
truth and understanding. In the same spirit, 
as a seeker after the true light and understand- 
ing of the gospel, I ask you to explain the fol- 
lowing passages of scripture: 

After Jesus had risen from the tomb He said: 
"And these signs shall follow them that be- 
lieve. In my name shall they cast out devils; 
they shall Sjpeak with new tongues; they shall 
take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly 
thing it shall not hurt them; they shall lay 
hands on the sick and they shall recover.'^ 
Also: "I say unto you, he that believeth on 
Me, the works that I do shall he do also ; and 
greater works than these shall he do, because 
I go unto the Father.^' Also: "Wherefore I say 



154 Francis Schlattek 

nnto you, what things soeyer ye desire, when 
ye pray believe that ye receive them and ye 
shall have them/' Are these promises made 
by Christ null and void in our generation? 
Have they been released by a later edict of 
God? If so, when and where? If they are not 
efficacious in our day, why have they a place in 
our gospel? And here is another: "And His 
disciples asked Him why they could not cast 
out the deaf and dumb spirit, and He said unto 
them : ^This can come forth by nothing but by 
prayer and fasting.' '^ Was Jesus also mis- 
taken in regard to prayer and fasting? 

It has been said this power was given only 
to the twelve and the seventy disciples. This 
answer will not do. There is no authority in 
the scriptures for such claim. It must be un- 
true, for His followers healed all manner of 
sickness for three centuries after His crucifix- 
ion. And there is no evidence in the gospel 
that God was guilty of class legislation. His 
promises were for all mankind for all time and 
place, and there is no statute of limitation run- 
ning against them. 

One more question: Is it not a fact that sick- 
ness is the second stage of sin, and death the 
third, and that they are all the result of diso- 



The Healek. 155 

bedience of the spiritual law, and that Christ 
recognized no so-called material law as holding 
the issues of life and death? And do not the 
first six verses of Matthew ix. unequiyocally 
establish that sin and sickness are synono- 
mous, and the healing of the sick was the de- 
struction of sin? Is not the casting out of evil 
spirits or material thoughts the spiritual pan- 
acea for all sin and sickness and the power 
through which death is overcome? 

I ask these questions in the spirit of earnest- 
ness. I am a wanderer in the wilderness be- 
tween sense and soul. I may have crossed the 
^^narrow way'^ many times, but in my blindness 
have not seen it. Let the light of your under- 
standing shed its beams, and possibly others 
may discover the way into the "land of prom- 
ise.''* 

N. B. BACHTELL. 

*Illustrations by permission, W. A. White, Artist.] 



156 Francis Schlatter 



CHAPTER XIT. 



^^The understanding is the vestibule of the 
mind! Uncover thy head and enter the tem- 
ple of the soul! Behold the power, the beauty 
and the love! If we had nothing but under- 
standing, how little should we know or think 
or feel!^^ — Horatio Stebbins. 

THE POWER OF THE MAN. 

The leaving of Francis Schlatter from Den- 
ver closed one of the most remarkable and 
sublime manifestations of the power of God 
this century has ever witnessed. Through- 
out his whole mission in Denver he demon- 
strated the povv^er for good, physically and 
spiritually, that was unsurpassed or even 
equaled by any human manifestation since the 
days of the apostles. That the man was en- 
dowed with Divine power, hundreds of the 
people firmly believed. His fast of forty days 
in New Mexico (of which to me there was 
no doubt) demonstrated that some hidden 



The Healer. 159 

power more potent than mere physical or 
human must have sustained him. Another 
demonstration which was truly wonderful was 
at the end of that great event, eating a hearty 
meal in his depleted condition. All the au- 
thorities at the time said he would surely die, 
yet, he not only lived, but in six days there- 
after he made a trip of 600 miles to Denver, 
that is really fatiguing to an ordinary person 
in good health and able to stand the long, 
tedious journey. Upon his arrival in Denver 
he was very thin in flesh, not V\^eighing to ex- 
ceed 100 pounds. Again that inscrutable 
power asserted itself, and in ten days his con- 
dition v/as normal and he stood forth a per- 
fect man. During all the time he was re- 
cuperating he daily answered all the mail 
that came to him, which was quite large, and 
also treated a great many people, so that he 
virtually had had no rest. When on the 
morning of September 16 he began public 
treatment, this remarkable endurance of the 
man, when for fifty-eight days he pressed the 
hands of thousands of people, was another 
great manifestation of this great pov/er. His 
life, while in Denver, was of the simplest. 
Kind and loving; happy when he could help 



160 Francis SoHLATfE^ 

some poor suffering soul. In the family circle 
at Mr. Fox's, when his work of healing was 
done for the day, he was like a child and 
would smile at the ludicrous incidents of the 
day as they were related to him. In addition 
to treating in public, he frequently would go 
nights to people who were unable to leave 
their beds. Among some of the numerous 
cases may be mentioned that of Mrs. George 
Waterbury, at w^hose house he treated her 
little boy for two weeks. Mrs. Waterbury's 
little child, George, met with an accident 
when only seven days old, through the care- 
lessness of the nurse, who let the little in- 
fant fall from out her arms, sustaining par- 
alytic stroke, the result of a contusion of the 
spine. The little boy was also speechless, hav- 
ing no control over the vocal chords. For 
three days at a time he would lay in spasms, 
and the mother thought there was no relief 
for her child but death. In appearance this 
baby is fat and very healthy looking, is very 
bright and understands a great deal, though 
unable to speak intelligently as yet. The 
child could not utter a sound beyond a cry 
before Francis treated the little one, and now 
he is able to speak his sister's name, Min (Min- 




o 



o 




> 



The Healer. 163 

nie), and A for that of Ada. When the Healer 
would take his tiny hands and treat him, he 
would look up into his face most pitifully, 
and exert the muscles in his throat in an at- 
tempt to speak. The Healer spent Sundays 
here and enjoyed his visits. Mr. Waterbury, 
who is a postofQce inspector of this division, 
met Francis while in New Mexico and gave 
him a letter of introduction to his wife. When 
he arrived in Denver^ Francis presented the 
letter to Mrs. Waterbury, w^hereupon she 
accepted the letter but did not read it, say- 
ing, ^^I need no introduction." This evidently 
pleased Francis, as it was her Faith that 
helped to bring the child where it is to-day. 
The w^riter called at the above residence, in- 
terviewed the lady and saw the child. 

A very interesting case was that of Mrs. 
Richard Webber's son, Henry, who w^as an 
invalid with that dreaded affliction— hip dis- 
ease. This family were the first people in 
Denver to call on the Healer. Henry suf- 
fered over three years, and was in plaster 
Paris three times and iron braces twice; was 
unable to go to bed. About a week before 
the Healer arrived his mother had to undress 
him and then remain up all night long for 



164 I'rancis Sohlatteb 

nights, and was almost disheartened.' His 
cure was gradual, though effective, and from 
the time he was treated he never once said, 
^^Mamma, I feel so tired/' His left limb had 
shrunken over three inches and now it is al- 
most the normal length and he goes about 
without the use of his crutches. 

The accompanying picture show^s little 
Henry on crutches in the crowd. The morn- 
ing the author called he had been climbing 
trees. He has never taken a spoonful of medi- 
cine since the day he was treated. When 
Francis left Denver, Henry sobbed bitterly, as 
though he had lost his best friend. 

The Healer called many times to treat Mrs. 
Harry L. Sedley, and I quote her letter, which 
she has written to me under date of October 
1, 1896: 

"I had been an invalid for two years, and 
had given up all hope of ever having my health 
restored. I first heard of the Healer through 
the newspapers, and I thought if I could only 
live until he came to Denver I could be cured. 
Through the kindness of Mrs. George Water- 
bury, he came to my house to see me. The 
evening he came I had been given up by two 
of the best doctors in Denver, and all my 



The Healee. 165 

friends were just waiting for me to die. He 
took hold of my hands and gave me a treat- 
ment, and told me the Lord wa^ not ready for 
me yet, that I would get better, but it would 
take a long time. He also blessed a handker- 
chief for me, which I have continued to wear. 
I began to improve right away, but have been 
quite sick since, and had doctors. Both 
claimed the only way to be cured was by an 
operation. But I still had Faith in the Healer 
and continued wearing the handkerchief, and 
now I am able to go all over the city and am 
about cured. I have no hesitancy in saying it 
was the Healer and my Faith in him and God 
that brought me out of my serious sickness." 

Throughout all his ministry he would not 
and did not receive a cent for his w^ork in any 
way or manner, nor w^ould he accept it. In 
some instances the people would ask what was 
the price. His answer would be, "Have Faith; 
that is the only price I charge." 



166 Francis Schlatter 

FAITH. 

"We chitchat; we character events; we plan 
and purpose human action, while we ourselves 
are blind to truth/' 

To guard against all evil, whether it is 
caused consciously or otherwise, is to attain 
force of character; to make it plainer. Faith in 
the omnipresent source of all power within 
this earthly tabernacle, man's soul. "Without 
Faith ye are nothing,'' remarked the Saviour. 
This means the will must not be clouded with 
doubt. "Fear and doubt are the hell-born 
daughters of ignorance, that drag men down 
to perdition; while Faith is the white-robed 
angel that lends him her wings and endows 
him with power." 

When we become thoroughly conscious of 
that inner life and realize its true meaning, 
then, and not until then, can we hope to attain 
unto that i)erfection to which we are all enti- 
tled by Divine inheritance. Faith is the lad- 
der we must climb, and as we go through life 
many reverses will occur and disappointments 
may come; yet, after all, they are blessings in 
disguise, though at the time they occurred it 
was so hard to endure them! 



The Healer/ 167 

Penetrating through the windows of the soul 
and searching within ourselves, we find what 
most people term the intuition — that special 
power through which we realize we are united 
to the Omnipotent, the original fountain of all 
life. And we are always in positive touch with 
this unlimited fountain head, because we are 
told in the scriptures, "In God we live, move 
and have our being." Many of us are not aware 
of the close union. The immediate perception 
in the human race is that by which he or she 
is vigilant of or perceives the holy presence in 
such a plain manner that the person receives 
impressions through it which will guide his 
or her life into lofty channels of utility and 
gracefulness, if it is heeded cautiously and im- 
proved by yielding to their direction. 

This faculty in man and woman corresponds 
to the instinct of the low^er animals, but there 
is a vast difference between the two. The in- 
tuition of the human race is conscious, while 
that of the dumb animal is not conscious. In 
one sense of the word these two faculties are al- 
lied, but they are distinct steps of gradual un- 
f oldment. Intuition or instinct (in reality they 
are one) is the intermediate space of the Cre- 
ator and the created. In the human being it 



168 Francis Scelatter 

befits the conscious joining with itself and 
God, the workshop by which God becomes 
the good that may be seen. 

The revealing of this faculty furnishes us 
with life-giving, musical truth around our- 
selves, so that we can come in contact with 
and conquer all impediments in our pathway of 
life. Through this gateway we come into con- 
scious atonement with the God-power, un- 
bounded knowledge and everywhere present 
good. The question naturally arises, is Faith 
allied to this faculty, or is it entirely different 
and distinct from it? The bursting forth of a 
ray of light disperses the darkness; so like- 
wise the intuition, more or less splendor, ac- 
cording as this faculty is unfolded in the per- 
son, the effulgence of his glory, guiding toward 
a higher place, and aiming to glittering dis- 
tances in advance that may be gained, through 
that endeavor which reclines on a safe credence 
in the everywhere present God. This diffusing 
stream of light is Faith, and it is a pure stream- 
let that has its source in that faculty called 
the "Intuition.^' 

These sacred communications of the intui- 
tion are bits of truth that crumble off by com- 
ing in touch with the one great mind, ^^as 



The Healer. 169 

Job walked and talked with God" in the days 
of the prophets, and may be tried by those 
who unfold their intuition, and the splendor 
and clearness of these trials will rest entirely 
upon the development. The higher the un- 
foldment, the clearer the perceivement of 
truth and the less the deviation from truth. 
Faith in this exhaustless stream is what hu- 
manity needs, and when these impressions 
come, trust them, and you may rest assured 
you will go through life in the right direction. 
This faculty is so dormant in some people that 
it does not disclose any realized truths; nev- 
ertheless, with care and proper nourishment 
(good thoughts) it guides and governs the rest 
of the faculties. Believe, wait and trust for 
the still, small voice within your earthly tab- 
ernacle and you will so^n detect its voice. 
When we lose ourselves in the Omnipotent, 
this faculty will divulge with so much force 
that the whole life will be instituted on the 
^Tetrous*^ of everlasting truth, and erring 
from the pathway of duty will be less fre- 
quent. 

Oh, for more Faith, bright, clear Faith in 
the Divine power of God to heal the body and 
save the souL He is the same to-day as He 
11 



170 Francis Schlatteb 

was eighteen hundred years ago, when the cen- 
turion besought Him, saying his servant was 
sick of the palsy, and Jesus said, ^^I will come 
and heal him/^ The centurion replied, ^^Lord, 
I am not worthy thou shouldst come under 
iny roof. Say but the word and my servant 
shall be healed." 

AVhat perfect Faith! He believed that Jesus 
had power to heal and the Saviour was willing 
to honor his Faith, when he said, ^^Thy Faith 
hath made thee whole. Go! thy servant is 
healed." 

It is also the same faith manifested by 
Abraham in offering up his only son. He be- 
lieved God, and it was imputed to him for 
righteousness. It is Faith like this we must 
have in the promise and power of God. Take 
him at his word. As our Faith is, so be it 
unto us, simple and childlike in power of God. 
This Faith was what Francis Schlatter pos- 
sessed. He, in his sweet, childlike way, 
asked the Father and received. 



The Healer. 171 



CHAPTER XT. 



Rev. Edward Southworth, at Booth school 
house, spoke on "In the Messianic Shadow," 
having reference to the work of Francis 
Schlatter. He selected his text from Acts v., 
15: "They brought forth the sick into the 
streets and laid them on beds and couches, that 
at least the shadow of Peter might overshadow 
some of them." He said: 

"Some centuries before our era the prophet, 
Isaiah, had a vision of the Messiah and ex- 
claimed with rapture, ^Surely He bears our 
griefs and carries our sorrows.' And when the 
real Christ of Galilee afterward went about 
healing the sick the people said, ^He takes our 
infirmities and bears our sicknesses.' 

"Thus it is the very essence of the Messianic 
spirit, so conceived in Bible times, for Christ 
to make all human sorrow His own sorrow and 
bear all our burdens as though they were His 
own. His Divine touch was expected to crowd 
poverty and sin and sorrow clear off the stage. 
Like an omnipotent magnet placed in the heart 



172 Francis Schlatter 

of a perfect manhood, He is to fraternize all, 
drawing them to His new creation as a king- 
dom of loYe. This is the true Messianic king- 
dom, in which the wants of the weakest will 
be supplied by the genius and power of the 
strongest. 

^•The Messianic Healer is now in Denver. 
His peculiar work is now showing to us one 
great elemental force in the kingdom of God: 
The element of a personal sacrifice in social 
burden-bearing— after the teachings of Jesus. 

^^More than 15,000 people— mostly infirm — 
have touched his hand. Some have been 
cured; yery many have been helped, and thou- 
sands are saying, ^Surely he is a good man and 
is doing good.^ 

^The common question to-day is, ^What do 
you think of Schlatter?' But in the face of 
such facts as we are witnessing I am aware 
that one man's opinion — least of all my own — 
counts for little; it may become an offense to 
truth. And yet it is the clear duty of any re- 
ligious teacher to inform himself concerning 
this Healer and give the people whatever light 
he thus obtains. This is my apology for treat- 
ing the subject to-night. 



The Healer, 17c 



THE MAN. 



^^Francis Schlatter is a man in middle life, 
squarely built, strong in frame, Anglo-Saxon 
in complexion. He is medium in height, with 
long, dark hair parted in the middle. His face 
is large and honest, being brimful of candor 
and radiant with Christian trust. Like all 
famous shoemakers whose portraits have 
reached us, his facial expressions reveal less of 
wideness in thought, but more depth of faith. 
Looking upon the picture of Whittier, one may 
see why he pounded shoe pegs in getting his 
young soul ready to sing of Christ: 

" ^Through all depths of sin and loss 
Drops the plummet of thy cross.' 

"The Healer stands out of doors on the in- 
side of the fence, grasping the hand and press- 
ing in his left hand the handkerchief of each 
person in regular order who files past him on 
the walk outside. 

"He is fittingly called ^the silent man,' and 
rarely speaks except to say as you pass from 
his grip, ^Thank you,' or ^Thank you, Jesus.' 
He works from 9 to 4, and wisely takes an 



174 Francis Schlatter 

hour at noon for lunch and rest. Near the 
hour for closing he leaves his stand, going into 
the street to mount a carriage and treat those 
who cannot enter the line because of weakness. 
No one in distress fails to attract his attention. 

^^He appears unconscious of what we call 
social distinctions. With a beneficence born 
of heaven and in the fullest imitation of Jesus, 
he has given up his life to relieve suffering hu- 
manity. He imposes no arbitrary conditions 
upon those who come for healing, but pre- 
sumes that they have sufficient confidence in 
him to constitute what he calls Faith. And 
his profoundest joy appears to consist in the 
sacrifice of himself for the public good. He is 
getting thousands of letters from abroad and 
tries to answer a part of them. Handker- 
chiefs also come to him for his touch. He 
grants the request and returns them. 

^^With quick discernment he detects a bad 
case and bestows more time upon it. He never 
w^ants to know a disease. He will pause in his 
attention to the regular line and treat a very 
bad patient appealing to him from the outside 
crowd. In all this he shows such simple good 
sense that any sympathetic observer will be 
often stirred to deep emotion. 



I'he Healer. 17o 

HAS COMMON FAITH-SENSE 
ENLAEGED? 

"The economy of life in the universe has pro- 
vided itself with three forces which extend 
through all the range of human observation — 
reason, Faith and sacrifice. They are original, 
created by God, and in themselves are creative 
of other forms of life, but not of life itself. The 
higher grades of animals exhibit strength and 
beauty with those instincts which approach 
human reason. Children show remarkable 
combinations of all three forces, with the sacri- 
ficial element dominant — thus furnishing good 
ground for the statement of Christ that a child 
is a symbol of the kingdom of God. Education 
will give dimension and grace to these func- 
tions, but it cannot furnish them with power 
nor supply their deficiency if the will declines 
to exercise them. 



176 Francis Schlatter 



THE GREATER QUESTION. 

^^Oiir first legitimate inquiry concerning this 
man is not whether he can cure the people of 
their physical ailments, or whether he wants 
to be known as a Messiah. Very possibly he 
may fail in many attempts at healing, and may 
at first entertain exaggerated notions of his 
own call from God. Yet he may not thereby 
fail to do much good, nor should we charge 
him with being a fanatic. Many a time in his- 
tory has God illustrated Paul's rule of Provi- 
dence in choosing weak things to confound the 
wise. 

"But I am assured by those who worship 
with him at St. Patrick's church that he lays 
no claim to be the returning Christ, or the re- 
produced Messiah; that, on the contrarj^, his 
entire manner in private shows him to be con- 
scious of himself only as a plain, guileless 
servant of Christ, taking his Master's word as 
exactly true and applicable to human needs in 
its own plainest terms. He refers everything 
to ^the Father,' and goes at his work with all 
the ardor of a perfect child of father's will.' 

"Our first question is, Does Francis Schlat- 



The Healer. 177 

ter bear the one test of original childlike obedi- 
ence to God, as given us by the rule of Christ 
for knowing who is in the kingdom of heaven? 
Does he really show 

^^ ^Himself to nature's heart so near 
That all her voices in his ear' 

Are the honest pulses of the Divine will, 
urging him on to do good according to his abil- 
ity and strength? And if he seem a little rash 
or overknowing at first, he is quite likely to 
come soon to tTie true consciousness of his mis- 
sion, with greater wisdom and power. As Dr. 
Arnot, of Scotland, once remarked to D. L. 
Moody: ^The world has yet to see what a man 
can do who is wholly consecrated to God.' 

"He exhibits no trace of fanaticism, nor can 
I find evidence that he has actually made any 
extravagant self-assertion. I am assured that 
he confesses that he does not understand all 
the Bible, and humbly thinks himself called to 
good works rather than teaching. 

"His presence in the city has already proved 
a benediction to a public audience. I never 
saw so many people together in the street keep 
so good order. He inspires a quiet reverence. 
There is very little talk except when some one 



178 Francis Schlatter 

who has been made whole comes in contact 
with a rank disbeliever. 

"The ultimate test of every Christian work 
is in its power to subdue selfishness and in- 
spire public faith in righteousness. Ethical 
goodness, common sense, and both wrapped 
within God's spirit, appear so far to be the 
fruits by w^hich Schlatter is to be known. 
Should he continue with us and grow^ in his 
good work, I venture to assert that he will in- 
spire more true manhood than all our religious 
teachings have yet accomplished. And the 
managers of our coming carnival had better 
begin to contemplate the event as a civic jubi- 
lee. 

HIS WORK. 

"People will ask if he does actually cure. 
We must first agree on what we mean by the 
question. Comparatively few persons are ab- 
solutely cured from all liability to a germinal 
return of a malignant disease. Medicine will 
often help toward a cure by starting anew the 
dormant forces of life. When medicine does 
this, it may rather loosely be said to cure. It 
does not actually do it. For all healing is ac- 



The Healer. 179 

complished only by nature, moving her po- 
tencies along the avenues of vitality. 

^^ow, if Schlatter really starts these hid- 
den energies, even though they do not continue 
as long nor extend as far as we may wish, he 
is thereby entitled to be called a Healer. But 
he has produced effects which any physician 
might call a cure. Eheumatism, sciatica, dis- 
ease of the kidneys and Bright' s disease are 
cases brought to my notice by the subjects of 
them who have received such signal results 
from his treatment that only the word ^cured^ 
can tell the truth. Blindness has been slightly 
relieved in many instances and very materially 
helped in a few. Disordered vision has been 
removed in at least one case of an engineer. 
A barber w^hom I have — with other cases — 
personally investigated, is at present, aftei* 
two weeks since treatment, as well as ever. 
One is now preaching the gospel of healing 
whose claim to a real cure will not be disputed. 
I have received extraordinary benefit in the 
case of a lameness of more than a year's stand- 
ing. To my own mind nothing could be more 
actual. It has been demonstrated that by a 
ruse, a well man can be made to regard him- 



189 Francis Schlatter 

self sick. And men have died under the false 
impression that they were being killed. But 
YOU could never convince the cases I have cited 
that we have received no new life pulses from 
the hand of Francis Schlatter. 

^^It is a gift altogether inestimable — even 
though we had less physical good to report — 
when one is sent to stand up in such Divine 
manhood and throw over the city such a Mes- 
sianic shadow. 

INCIDENTS. 

"One can hear considerable Bible language 
revived at the healing. Things get to glowing 
once in a while. Some one in the crowd pro- 
duced a scrap from one of Myron Eeed's ser- 
mons, and was ready to stand by the issue and 
defend the quotation against the vforld, the 
flesh and the devil. The passage was in Acts, 
xix. But another man sawed the atmosphere 
to convince us that the book of Acts runs out 
before it comes to the nineteenth chapter. I 
noticed that a number of decent-looking peo- 
ple vowed if ever they got home again they 
would read the old mother's Bible once more, 



The Healer. 181 

so as to converse intelligently upon the me- 
chanical arrangement of Acts. 

"Two sharp-eyed ladies approached a group 
of people and produced their handkerchiefs to 
show what the clairvoyant did. ^Oh/ said 
number 3, ^then it is like Christian Science, is 
it?^ ^Yes, like mind cure you say.' I retired 
from the scene v/ith a small slice of a London 
fog in my mentality. 

''It any man can witness the simple trust of 
the crowds of people that gather there; if he 
can stand in the throng and note the approach 
of some carriage, wherein a liveried coachman 
brings a pale sufferer to this fountain of hope; 
or if he can watch the poor, weak woman on 
her crutches and the emaciated sons of toil, 
outworn in the fierce struggle for existence — 
all forgetting that they have any social dis- 
tinctions, as they act out life's real drama — if 
day after day he can witness this without his 
heart breaking into tears, he can do more than 
I am able to do. 



182 Francis Schlatter 



WILL THIS HEALING EFFECT ENDURE? 

"Probably not longer than conditions en- 
dure which promote it. We dare not assume 
that the miracles of Jesus produced longev- 
ity, or that they gave more than temporary re- 
lief. Lazarus certainly died after having been 
raised from the dead. The point is not very 
material. But the home story of Mary and 
Martha, made grateful by the presence of 
Jesus, and affording Him opportunity to do 
the vastly more important work of teaching 
the gospel, becomes a source of Faith to man- 
kind, even though their brother had died the 
next week. 

"We are not sure that the acorns from the 
hand of Paul, or the shadow of Peter, covered 
a lengthy period of health to any one. We 
can only know that these apostles of the Mas- 
ter gave to the people of that day a little com- 
fort and took from them some burdens and sor- 
rows of life. They were the Messianic shadow 
of their Lord, the Great Healer. 

"An eminent author of our day, writing on 
social economy, says: ^All that keeps the earth 
from being heaven is the self-will of man, 



The Healer. 183 

which refuses to know anu do the will of God/ 
And in his vision of Sir Launfal searching for 
the holy grail, Lowell sings: 

" ^Not only around our infancy 
Doth heaven with all its splendors lie; 
Daily, with souls that cringe and plot, 
We Sianais climb and know it not/ 

^^ ^For a cap and bells our lives we pay, 

Baubles we buy with a whole souPs tasking; 

^Tis heaven alone that is given away, 
^Tis only God may be had for the asking/ 

SOUEOE OF HIS POWEE. 

" ^Magnetism,^ says one. ^Yes, he's full of 
it,' echoes a good second. Grant the claim. 
What, then, is magnetism — an interpretation 
of the devil, or is it one of our Creator's chosen 
agencies for healing and conserving life? The 
latter, most certainly. Christ was so charged 
with magnetism — or some other power Divine 
and exactly equivalent — that His garments 
were full of it. Some years ago, when Professor 
Winchell published ^Sketches of Creation,' I 
asked him upon what grounds geologists find 
man so remote in the history of the rocks. He 



184 Fbancis Sohlatteb 

replied that he did not accept the hypothesis, 
but preferred to bring antiquity nearer to the 
recent age of man. Allow me to use this form 
of words to declare my conviction that nature 
brings God infinitely near to man, instead of 
shoving itself, like a series of mill screens, be- 
tween Him and His noblest work in man. Em- 
erson puts it uniquely but correctly in saying 
that the relation between mind and matter 
stands in the will of God, and calls the vforld 
an ^incarnation of God.^ And in the accurate 
perception of the Bible, that God is known by 
His works, I am sure the sage of Concord is 
right. George Herbert declares that 

^^ 'More servants will wait on man 
Than he'll take notice of. In every path 
He treads down that v/hich doth befriend him 
When sickness makes him pale and w^an.' 

"The French savant, M. Guizot, used to re- 
mark that if we accept the general proposition 
that ^God is,' all else becomes easy and natural. 
Then we all say, ^Let the magnetic link^ the 
Faith link, the social link, or anything God has 
made useful, be employed to work human sal- 
vation and joy.' For they are all of God, and 
will not meet in opposition. ^Imagination' 



The Healer. 185 

explains it to some who take a superficial view 
of the phenomena. Very well. The Creator 
has certainly proyicled much important work 
for this faculty of imagining things. One day 
in the early half of our century a few gentle- 
men sat conversing in the cabin of a North At- 
lantic steamer, bound for Europe. A Catholic 
priest was present and told how he had just 
imagined a submarine cable for sending mes- 
sages across the ocean. It was a mere ^imag- 
ination/' you know, but God put it into the 
heart of Cyrus Field to build therebj^ one un- 
broken line between the nations. Columbus 
imagined a continent beyond the setting sun 
of Italian skies, and by the aid of Spain found 
that God had actually placed that land on his 
map some centuries before the Santa Maria 
sailed. And here we all repeat, if you will, 
^Yes, imagination has a good part to play in 
this drama of life. God bless imagination and 
give us more of it.^ 

"Yet it is a yery feeble way of telling the 
truth about these phenomena of Schlatter. 
Let us be frank with our Father and call it the 
work of God; for not until the heavenly Father 
sends some one. Field, Columbus or the Healer, 
will the components combine to produce the 



186 Francis Schlatter 

result. I say it with no thought of lowering 
his grade, that I believe Brother Schlatter is a 
heayen-sent servant to perform a specific work 
among us. And for any man or woman to 
openly and knowingly oppose him is blas- 
phemous; to do it ignorantly is more than 
foolish. 

''I find that some of Mr. Schlatter's patients 
get healing without faith, some begin with 
curiosity and reach the point of confidence be- 
fore touching his hand. One man feels the 
genuine battery shock; a dozen others feel 
nothing of the kind. One woman from New 
Mexico told me she felt so weak under the 
wrenchings of some power that twisted her, 
she thought she would die. 

^^One fellow came walking briskly back 
again down the line, stopping often to tell the 
crow^ds about him; that ^Schlatter spells his 
name with two t's; he's a Catholic and I'm an 
A. P. A., but I don't care a nickel who heals 
me!' 

^^Much that we call Faith, in the Bible is 
meant to imply only simple obedience. The 
churches have imposed an artificial meaning 
on this grace of Faith. A rational surrender 
to eternal goodness^ in a spirit of obedience to 



The Healer. 187 

righteousness, is the heart of faith. If the 
clergy would teach the truth in its native sim- 
plicity it wouldn't be long before all would 
come to a reasonable exercise of Faith. 

INSTANTANEOUS EFFECT. 

^^Some will demand instantaneous effect. 
But it is not needed in this age of scientific 
growth. To set in motion the hiding jpulses of 
vitality is just as good a work to-day as to have 
put the impotent man on his feet in the first 
century. Even Christ took time. In one case 
a blind man at first saw only trees walking as 
men. 

"We do wrong to judge Schlatter's work by 
the material standard of the first Messianic 
miracles. 

"Is surgery impossible by any one except an 
expert? Is the North Pole the only magnet 
because it is the greatest? Our silent brother 
across the Platte may not be an expert yet. 
He may grow vastly. He will if he preserves 
his obedient humility. The meek shall in- 
herit the earth. Even now he throws a greater 
Messianic shadovf over our city than all others 
combined. 



188 Francis Sgh^latter 

"Not all will be healed in body. It is the 
mission of some to suffer for the world's heal- 
ing. Chloe Lankton was a shoemaker's daugh- 
ter in New England. For forty years she lay 
on her bed of pain, so sweetened by the sacri- 
ficial element that her life became a gospel to 
multitudes. Literature has been made sacri- 
ficial by such sufferers as Eobert Louis Steven- 
son, Parkman and Milton. It is this kind of lit- 
erature that is so rapidly winning the earth 
and expelling that heathenish distinction be- 
tween the sacred and the secular. Christ laid 
more stress on the act of giving a cup of cold 
water to a thirsty sufferer on the desert of life 
than ui)on all his miracles. For what else are 
we millions related to each other, but to be- 
come Messianic? We may drink and feel bet- 
ter, we may thirst again, but the true Messi- 
anic spirit of healing, once becoming common 
after the order of Jesus and Schlatter, and a 
few such dissolving views of humanity will 
soon make our earth a heaven. 

"This old prophetic idea became a longing 
of man, and Christ wove it into the seamless 
robe of His life. Dr. Franklin said: Whoever 
introduces into public affairs the principles of 
primitive Christianity will change the face of 



The Healer. 189 

the world/ Let societ}' also assume a Messi- 
anic spirit and see that henceforth no idle hand 
need fail to earn an honest living, and no cry 
of want return to a fraternized earth. 

"Let our clergymen and our churches begin 
to cast this Divine shadow. Brothers, this is 
our opportunity. Let us pray the Father to 
give greater power to Brother Schlatter. I 
suggest that you make a specialty of asking 
God to embue him with the power of Christ 
It would be the most wonderful prayer-meet- 
ing ever held in Denver. Let Trinity church 
be opened to him, that he may have comfort to 
impart to the crowds that throng him on these 
frosty mornings. This is your day to save the 
people and society by the soothing Messianic 
Shadow/*^ 



190 Francis Schlatter 



FRANCIS SCHLATTER. 

A pure bright star aflame with love 

Divine, yes holy, 'twas so pure and chaste 

Simply obeying the Father's will. 

Commanding our troubles and diseases "be still;" 

Trying ever unto us to show 

The love that is centred on us here below; 

Believing the word which he daily read. 

If ye have but the faith of a mustard seed, 

Great miracles you shall perform indeed. 

You shall cast out diseases and raise the dead, 

And cause the sea to forsake its bed. 

And the mountains to crumble to dust. 

Standing apart, yet amongst the city's roar. 
Thou stoodst with bared head and eyes upturned 
As they stood before him in one long array. 
The poor, the rich, the sad, the gay, 
The crippled, the blind, and those sorely distressed 
Turned from Thee happy for they were blessed. 



The Healer. 191 

We trace the Ilealer after leaving Eliza- 
beth, Colorado, in a southerly direction, always 
keeping very close to the Union Pacific, Den- 
ver & Gulf railroad tracks. At a point di- 
rectly south of Elizabeth we found him at a 
place called Walsenburg, which is a small 
place, but very important on account of its 
vast coal mines. This place did not detain him 
long, as he was soon after discovered at Rouse, 
Colorado. This was on the 27th of Novem- 
ber, a little oyer two weeks after leaving Den- 
ver. The Healer was still riding his white 
horse, and as he rode into town with his w^hite 
slouch hat and dark suit, together with his 
long hair, which was under his hat and con- 
fined by a woolen turban, he was not easily 
recognized at first appearance. Behind his 
saddle were rolled his blankets, and oyer his 
shoulder w^as swung a large canteen, which 
held at least a gallon of water. He was asked 
if he would not stop, to y/hich the Healer re- 
plied he had not time. In a yery short time 
the streets w^ere filled with people and chil- 
dren, and he was followed by a large crowd 
who had gathered about him, but to all he said 
he could not stop, and he did not, but went on 
his way. It was indeed a queer crowed that 



192 PPvANCIS SCHLATTEB 

escorted, or rather followed, him out of town, 
some mounted on bicycles, some on saddle 
horses, some in buggies. Above the town of 
Walsenburg is a large hill, and it was at this 
point that the Healer stopped and shook hands 
with all who came to him. Many of the crowd 
went back to the town, but a large number fol- 
lowed the Healer into Eouse. 

When it became known that the Healer had 
passed through Eouse and was on his way 
south, scores of people set out after him to 
overtake him and shake hands with him. The 
Healer refused none, and carefully held the 
hands of all for a few minutes. When asked 
where he was going he invariably replied, ^^I 
do not know. The Father is directing me, and 
I expect to go where I will be alone and can 
commune with the Father undisturbed. My 
powers are increasing every day, but the 
Father tells me I must have rest, and so I go. 
I left Denver because my time was up. I did 
not intend to stay any longer. The large num- 
ber of railroad men who came from the East 
to see me and found me gone will be benefited 
just as much as if they had seen me. I do not 
do the healing; it is the Father; and to be 
healed all must have Faith, My future I know 



The Healer. 19o 

nothing about; but if it is His will, my mission 
will be carried on as it has been in the past." 

The Healer carried nothing to eat, and he 
only wanted something to eat once a day, and 
that was given to him by the people who lived 
along the road. He drank large quantities of 
w^ater, w^hich accounted for the large canteen 
which he carried across his shoulder. 

At the residence of W. O. Johnson he treated 
a child. It was an affecting sight to see the 
great, strong man, with hands like those of a 
giant. The Healer took the small hand of the 
child into his, which he held for twenty min- 
utes. Every now and then he drew uiDon the 
whole strength of his body, and it seemed as 
though he was lifting a great load and every 
muscle in his body was strained. The child 
looked at him confidingly and laid its head on 
his hand. The scene at the house where the 
Healer made his short stay while at Rouse 
was certainly a remarkable one. Some women 
stood tearfully by with Faith as perfectly vis- 
ioned as it was of old. The mothers kissed 
their babes, just blessed, if only for their hope. 
And so the silent man came and left, and in a 
few, very few, minutes of his calling he left in 



194 Francis Sohlattei^ 

some homes many thankful hearts for the com- 
ing. There were tears of thankfulness in some 
eyes and hopes of betterment and joy in some 
faces that, ere long, the weary, sore and dis- 
abled bodies would take on a new dress of 
health and strength. A colored lady was 
treated and went away with the tears stream- 
ing down her cheeks. Nothing induced him to 
remain in Eouse, and although a warm sup- 
per was provided for him, he refused to par- 
take of it. His horse, howeyer, was well fed. 

The movements of the Healer were recorded 
after leaving Eouse as having passed through 
Santa Clara, Colorado. From Acquillar, a 
small town in the great coal region of South- 
ern Colorado, the Healer was traced to Hast- 
ings, another large mining camp. The streets 
were lined with people, who anxiously awaited 
the arrival of Schlatter in Trinidad, but the 
people were doomed to disappointment, the 
Healer having pursued his southerly course. 

After leaving Colorado Francis entered New 
Mexico, from whence he left some months be- 
fore. The Healer was soon lost track of when 
he went among the Mexicans and Indians, 
miles from anv railroad or village. 



The Healer. 105 

Nothing further was learned of his move- 
ments or whereabouts until the following 
year, and it was during the month of February 
that the Healer was located on a ranch at 
Datil, New Mexico, where he was resting. 
Towards the latter part of the month of May 
of this year, word was received from Ada 
Morley Jarrett, who lives at Hermosillo Ranch, 
New Mexico, at w^hose place Francis was stay- 
ing. In her letter she stated that the Healer 
thinks he may be in Colorado again, but at 
present he is on his way to Old Mexico, healing 
the sick and spreading happiness as he goes 
along. In substance the letter from Hermo- 
sillo Ranch ran as follows : "You ask for a let- 
ter on Schlatter, and your kindly insistance 
reminds me of certain stories Mr. Schlatter 
told me of experiences in the Fox residence, 
in Denver. ^Often people were refused,^ said 
he, ^the first time, for the Father wanted me to 
just try their Faith, but if they came a second 
or third timej well. Father said, "Let them 
come in.'^ ^ 

"I appreciate that the knowledge I have is 
of such transcendant value and beauty that to 
share it with others would be a blessing to 
both; nevertheless the What and the When 



196 Francis Schlatter 

is an ironclad trust, and impossible for me to 
violate. The Where, however, he gave me lati 
tude in, and told me to manage it to suit my 
self, which in the near future I shall try to do, 
I realize the value of his long, long rest here, 
but he often said, Tather told me in Colorado, 
v/hen I asked for rest, ^^You will have a long 
rest in Southwestern New Mexico.'' I said to 
Father, ^^Yv'^ell, it will have to be a very quiet, 
peculiar ranch where I can have rest.'' ^^It is," 
He told me.' 

^^It is not yet the exact time or place. When 
and Where he gave me permission to talk, and 
I can say only a little. He often, in that Di- 
vinelj^ gentle method and manner, would say: 
^Father is good to me,' and I added ^Yes,' for 
once remembering all too vividly his eloquent 
detailed description of how he suffered on that 
horrible tramp of two years in hunger and 
cold, poverty and humiliation, and again I hear 
the gentle tones, ^Father is very good to let 
me stay so long. I did not think it when I 
came. It is the first real rest and peace I have 
had since mother died.' Schlatter's manner 
could be severe as well as gentle, and when I 
showed him that ^Globe-Democrat' dispatch 
from Socorro, were he on the material plane I 



The Healer. 197 

should say he seemed disgusted. Said he: 
^Now just look at that; your ranch isn't 150 
miles from Socorro. Pve not spoken to a soul 
save the two trusty friends, and Father says 
they won't talk. No one has ever seen me, yet 
they telegraph those stories oyer the laud. 
And fast! I wonder what they think? Do 
they think Father wants me to suffer forever? 
Do they think it is an easy thing to go forty 
days and forty nights without food? Ah, it's 
no easy thing! I told Father, ^^You must give 
the spiritual food or I perish." I don't think 
Father will ever require that of me again. I 
hope not, for disobedience is not in me. But 
one such fast ought to set people thinking. 
That is all Father wants. He wants His chil- 
dren on the earth to-day to think — think.^ 

"Schlatter would pace the floor and stride 
across the canon with such a determined air, I 
often laughed to myself and did not wonder 
they called him the ^Cyclone' in the Hot 
Springs jail in 1893, when the voice said, fol- 
low" me' — that Inaudible, Invisible, Invincible 
Power he hears, heeds, and in which he lives, 
moves and has his being — took him as a tramp 
to prospect for souls on that awful walk across 
this continent, in poverty, hunger and dirt, and 



198 Francis Schlatter 

landed him in jail to study justice and men's 
methods, among other pathetic experiences 
in the bygone years. 

"Of course his prolonged stay here was a sur- 
prise to those who knew, but he is of such 
marvelous make-up, his life is so beyond criti- 
cism, his whole mission to help humanity, that 
the people have a right to know all he is will- 
ing they should know. But I am the one he 
told to keep still. It is easy to see my posi- 
tion and my duty. It is a sacred trust, one I 
know is of responsibility, and in y/hich I shall 
take good care not to blunder.'^ 

Francis continued to live on this ranch until 
the latter part of March, when he again 
started to heal amongst the Indians and Mex- 
icans of New Mexico. 



The Healer. 199 



C0NCL1810N. 



On November 22, 1896, an interesting talk 
was given bj^ Mrs. Ada Morie}' Jarrett, in 
Chosen Friends- hall, of the Charles building, 
in Denver, Colo. The text was the twelfth 
chapter of Daniel, last three verses, which 
read: ^^And the daily sacrifice shall be taken 
aw^ay from among you." 

^' After 1,290 days have passed awa}^, this 
sacrifice shall return unto the people again.'' 

About nine months ago, Francis Schlatter, 
mounted upon his white horse, Butte, rode into 
Datil, N. M. It was a dreary, stormy night in 
January, and the snow was two feet deep when 
he applied for shelter at a ranch at Hermosillo, 
N. M. This ranch is situated some ^ixtj miles 
from the railroad and ten miles from the near- 
est postoflflce, in a box canon, surrounded by 
juniper and tall pine trees. Only a small, nar- 
row trail led to the house, there being no other 
way of approaching the residence. He rapped 
at the front door and walked in. Mrs. Jarrett 



200 Francis Schlatter 

could not believe her own eyes, and was speech- 
less. Francis broke the strain by saying, "Good 
evening, madam." 

How Mr. Schlatter ever found that house 
was a miracle. No trail to follow (the path 
having been covered up with snovf)^ and not 
having spoken to a soul for many days, having 
passed through deserts and ravines that even 
cowboys, Mexicans or Indians, let alone a 
white man, have not dared to cross. 

When asked how he found the location, the 
Healer replied: "Father led me all the way, 
and this was the promised resting place in 
southwestern New Mexico.'^ 

For three long months Schlatter was kept in 
seclusion, his food being brought to him. 

During his stay on the ranch at Hermosillo, 
Schlatter told many wonderful stories of the 
visions he had seen, and of the prophecies of 
events to come to pass in the future. The sacri- 
fice he alluded to, and added that his return to 
civilization would be on or about the months 
of March or April, 1899. Possibly his return 
may be next spring, and again it may be longer 
than anticipated. 

"Father is going to bring me back to Den- 
ver," was his often repeated statement, 



The Healeb. 201 

His white horse he refers to as a "spiritual 
horse." During his many miles of weary travel, 
both the rider and the horse went days without 
food or drink. 

Of the prophecies, Schlatter said there would 
be a terrible war in 1899, between the gold pow- 
ers of the earth (or the mammon worshipers) 
and the meek, laboring classes (or the children 
of God, who shall inherit the earth). 

This is the long predicted war between capi- 
tal and labor. 

This conflict, he said, appeared to be an in- 
ternational affair, and he saw men clinging to 
the masts of ships, fleets were clashing, and he 
saw all on board going down together. 

One of the startling prophecies, made some 
ten years ago by the eminent Professor Tot- 
ten, of Yale college, and later by the grand old 
anthropologist, James Rhodes Buchanan, of 
San Jose, CaL, and now by Francis Schlatter, 
was to the effect that the city of New York 
will be submerged by a great tidal wave from 
the ocean. It was only about six weeks ago 
that a large part of Coney Island was swept 
away. Each year the coast of New Jersey is 
visited by great and disastrous inflowing floods, 

called tidal waves, especially in the neighbor- 
is 



202 Francis Schlatter 

hood of Atlantic City, wliere the damage is un- 
usuallj^ great. The immense tidal wave which 
swept the coast of Japan, and which was so ter- 
rible in the loss of so many thousands of people, 
was predicted by Rafael and others to the very 
day and hour. "Mark ye well the signs of the 
times.'' Those who will not listen and heed 
must feel when too late. 

Upon his return to Denver, his mission will 
not be healing, but as an orator. Francis 
Schlatter is always thinking, thinking, think- 
ing. This was why he was so silent during his 
first visit to Denver. All he asked of the people 
was to think, think. "Father,'' said he, "wants 
me to travel twenty-five years." This dates 
probably from the time he left home in Alsace, 
Germany, several years ago, or it may not 
mean until the time he left Denver, in July, 
1893. 

It must be remembered that this humble 
shoemaker sat at the bench for twenty-three 
years, and gave it up to obey the voice of the 
Father, to enter upon his travels and sufferings; 
He said after the war was over and the gold 
power subdued, he would return "in Father's 
time." Francis Schlatter says the people of 
this earth are on the eve of a new dispensation, 



The Healer. 203 

or a change, which occurs in the hi>story of the 
earth every 2,000 years, and he saj s the new 
cycle will come about the year 1900. In speak- 
ing of his future mission, Francis said: 
"Father don't want me to talk now/' and he 
spoke of the head of this serpent of the gold 
power which lies in London, and could only be 
bruised by the Father, who has declared that 
the worshipers of the golden calf would be cut 
down. He said all men-made institutions, such 
as hospitals, jails, reform schools, etc., would be 
done away with in the near future, and health, 
peace and hai)piness would have full sway. He 
also declares that the New Jerusalem would be 
established here in Denver. This he insists 
upon very strongly. "This heavenly kingdom," 
he said, "is located in the West'^ 

Schlatter never disobej^s the voice of the 
Father v^hen he hears it, and he stated to me 
that he had to go to the end of his mission. 
Some day in the future, he says, he yAU 
go to India, as lie was a lover of occult works 
and of the mystics. The New Testament was 
his favorite portion of the Bible, and he be- 
lieves in it thoroughly, especially in Eevela- 
tions, which, he said, he took in its literal sense. 



204 Francis Sghlatteb 

Speaking of heaven and its location, Mr. 
Schlatter says it is a "Condition" and not a Lo- 
cality, as Christ said the kingdom of heaven is 
v^ithin the human breast, and not away off in 
an unknown place. 

Now for a few lines about his pet, Butte. He 
said he would be the finest horse on the con- 
tinent. This noble animal, on leaving the 
homestead of the pioneer of "The Datils,'' made 
forty miles with 300 pounds upon his back. His 
course was in a southerly direction, towards 
the Rio Grande river, and in all probability he 
crossed this river and went into old Mexico. 

His sister in Alsace dreamed the same dream 
many times. She saw Francis wandering. His 
disappearance, she said, took place behind a 
veil or curtain (this was his disappearance from 
Denver), and he emerged from a wheat field 
surrounded by children of an olive complexion 
(this possibly means the Mexicans). 

If you notice the course the Healer traveled 
or tramped, you will find, upon examination, 
that it formed a leaning cross, from Denver 
toward Cheyenne (but never reached Wyom- 
ing), east to Topeka, south to Indian Territory 
at Tahlequah, then to El Paso, Texas, and fin- 
ally to San Francisco. 



The Healer. 205 

Upon the next appearance of the Healer, he 
will be eight feet in height, and he said his hair 
would turn perfectly white in one night, and 
his psychic powers would be very much 
stronger. 

Most of the epithets that were hurled against 
him from the pulpit, the press and those in au- 
thority, viz.: "A^agrant," "lunatic,'' "crazy shoe- 
maker," "humbug," "weak-minded fanatic," 
etc., all these will be cast out and forgotten 
when he starts in to teach the gospel as Jesus 
Christ taught it 1900 years ago. He says he 
wants to see more charity and charitable deeds 
and less mouth worshiping. The adage, "talk 
is cheap," he said, w^ell fits the present genera- 
tion. He is by no means an ignoramus, as he 
speaks several languages, and can converse flu- 
ently and intelligently upon any subject, 
whether it be philosophical, social, economic, 
scientific or religious. "A still tongue showeth 
a wise head." How little the people thought of 
this when he stood before them in silence, day 
after day, in front of the Fox cottage. 

A few days after the pioneer of the Datils 
left Denver for Boulder, Colo., to visit Mr. John 
Wolffj the man who was supposed to have had 



206 Francis Schlatter 

the Healer in hiding after his mysterious disap- 
pearance from Denver in November, 1895. 

The hostess of the Healer holds a warm place 
in the hearts of those people of Denver who had 
the pleasure of listening to the wonderful story 
of the Healer, during his stay on her ranch at 
Hermosillo. 

The Healer often said what humanity needs 
is "justice, cold justice,'' and it will be had with 
a two-edged sword sometime. 



THE END. 



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